Via Dolorosa
by Griffen
Summary: There was something about the way her eyes lit up whenever she saw him; about the way she lingered after each class with him just to momentarily brush her hand up against his or whisper words of admiration in the silence of an abandoned classroom.
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: Dear Diary will be out tomorrow, so please enjoy this in it's wake. I don't know how to explain my inspiration for this. You know there was this guy I was messing around with that absolutely trampled me and so I figured the only way to deal with it is to write about it. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

"I want to cuddle" 

It was a simple request she had made of him so why did it take so much strength on her part to ask it of him? She sat next to him now with so much determination in her stance, in her eyes. He laughed at the picture she had painted before him; there was still so much of Granger he had to control.

Hurt by his laughter she immediately withdrew and went back to her position on the bed next to him committed to not letting his nonchalance affect her.

"What are you not talking to me now? Come here"

He gently goaded her into his arms with a confident smirk on his face. He had a way of making her feel so inferior, so unimportant that when situations like this arose they all but overwhelmed her. She kept herself utterly still for fear that her movements would shatter the action she had coveted for so long. He fell asleep relatively quickly leaving her in his room with her own thoughts. She gazed up to the ceiling with mixed feelings.

Was this what she really wanted?

She glanced at his face, taking note of his features, every scar, every pore she would remember from then on.

Was he what she really wanted?

She was trapped in this and she knew it. She wasn't sure what her standing was with him; there were so many other women she had no idea about. There was so much he wouldn't share with her. She had never felt so insecure in her life. She would never know unless she asked, and if she asked he simply wouldn't answer and leave her there as usual thoroughly lost and confused.

Was this her final chance at happiness?

She glared at him now, hating herself for the position she was in. Hating herself for being so damn attracted to him. She knew she deserved more from him, she also knew that he once gave his all to his past love. What she didn't understand is why he wouldn't do the same for her.

What was so great about that girl anyway? Did she put up with his ridiculous sex 3 days a week rule? Was she integrated into his illegal activities? Was she pure blood? Was she prettier than herself? What did she have that Granger didn't? And if the woman was so damn perfect why didn't he ever go to her?

What was she thinking? He did go to her he had to have. Malfoy didn't care enough about her to just fuck only her. With what she had heard he liked to fuck everything.

* * *

For the first time in her life Hermione Granger found herself drowning with no water present. There she was, that girl, that woman, that thing that had been placed so far above herself in the hierarchy of Draco Malfoy's life. She was absolutely gorgeous and stood in front of Hermione with her palm extended.

Hermione's hands suddenly felt very clammy she wasn't prepared to touch this girl; she wasn't prepared to encounter what she envisioned to be the smoothest skin on the planet. She wasn't prepared to feel a touch better than her own.

"Hi"

She smiled weakly as the world crushed her, the girl was every bit as perfect as she had imagined, Hermione's skin almost burnt when their hands touched.

"You're Granger right? I have heard so much about you? I was hoping you could help me with my potions work, if I don't pass that course I probably won't even graduate"

The girl was so happy, so bubbly it almost made Granger retch. She was a 7th year Granger noted with thick blonde cascading hair that framed her face with it's bright sparkling green eyes perfectly. Angelina Hausra stood a good 3 inches taller than Hermione, she exuded grace and beauty, and she was everything Hermione had aspired to be.

"Potions? But I'm not in 7th year so I wouldn't have any idea about the course curriculum…"

She quietly replied. Angelina threw her head back in laughter and took Hermione's arm in her own acting as if they had known each other for years.

"Oh come off it Hermione! Everyone at Hogwarts knows you are a natural for this sort of stuff, well I'm surprised Snape hasn't poisoned himself trying to give you a grade less than an A! So what do you say babe? Help a girl out? I'll pay you if you like."

Hermione blushed profusely at this and mumbled a "No that won't be necessary" as she looked down to her feet. "Wonderful!" Angelina squealed. "So I'll see you Wednesday afternoon then?"

Hermione could do nothing but nod; shocked at situation she had managed to find herself in.

"Oh I don't care what those other Slytherins say about you! You're an absolute sweetheart!!!"

Angelina hugged Hermione goodbye and all but glided down the corridor. Hermione Granger simply couldn't move, she knew she had Transfigurations next but at the rate her body was shutting down she highly doubted she would make the class. She wasn't exactly sure what she was feeling but it wasn't good at all. She felt herself choking as the tears began to overflow and without a sound she rushed to the astronomy tower.

And it was there she spent the rest of her day and night without a thought of civilization. She had no idea where to go from here and she had no idea what Malfoy had done to her. Every thought of moving on, every thought of putting on a brave face thoroughly disgusted her. For the first time in her life she wanted to be miserable as she had spent most of her teenage years faking her happiness now her misery felt an absolute necessity.

She had stopped crying now, having found that there was no water left in her system to contribute to her sorrow. Now she simply felt nothing. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening to her and she was too scared to find out.

The moon shone brilliantly in the dark night sky, stars around it twinkling in competition. It illuminated the dark and cold room enough for Hermione to make her way around without harming herself.

She gazed up at the moon with a feeling of hopelessness. She knew that nothing would get better; she knew that he simply wouldn't give her what she so desperately needed. So why on earth did she continue to do this to herself?

What exactly was she doing here?

She had papers to write, books to read, knowledge to acquire but instead she was here in the loneliest corner of Hogwarts wailing her heart out about God only knows what.

"Oh Hermione" she sighed flooded with disappointment.

She had been so eager in the beginning…she had been so happy. Every touch, every glance, every kiss had set her on fire. Any little thing he said to her benefit would keep her high for days. But now…now it seemed so different, he almost acted as if he had no time for her, as if she was nothing but a nuisance. It was becoming painfully obvious how in love with him she was, and his lack of feeling for her was also quite apparent.

"Hermione!" A baritone voice she was accustomed to reverberated through the cold room. She chuckled; her reveries had her hallucinating again.

"Hermione!"

Now she could hear footsteps as a familiar chill crept up her spine. Fear held her once more and she knew if she turned around she would be facing the dragon itself.

"So do you like to disappear like this often?"

His tone made her feel as if she had been backhanded, but she kept her back towards him, willing him to disappear. But she knew he wouldn't. Not until he had completely destroyed her. He wouldn't leave her until she was dead. A brief idea flickered through her mind as she stared at the fog beneath the window.

'One single jump and you'd never see him again'

That was enough for her, so in one moment of desperation Hermione Granger jumped out off the astronomy tower window leaving an utterly horrified Malfoy in her wake.

* * *

Authors Note: Hope you liked it. Please review and no flames. I'll update Dear Diary tomorrow. Promise!!! 

Have a good day!


	2. Chapter 2

Her body was uncomfortably sore and felt restrained by a number of contraptions.

Had she survived?

Opening her eyes proved itself to be too much of an effort and her throat was too dry to produce coherent sound.

Was this death?

A gust of wind brought an all too familiar scent to her nose, the smell of the hospital ward; she had spent enough time her volunteering to recognize such a thing. All efforts to wake up from her trance were abandoned. Sleep was the closest thing to death she had decided.

* * *

Draco Malfoy stood at the side of her bed, watching her bruised face change expressions. He did not know what to do or say. His first instinct to be worried and try and wake her up was overridden by his second to maintain his proud Malfoy status. All he knew at this moment was that he hated her.

He circled the bed in consternation, a delicate scowl placed upon his immaculate features. Just looking at her made him sick. Her soft brown curls were let loose all over her pillow as if they were trying to comfort her injured body.

She had almost died.

Hermione Granger had tried to kill herself, he knew that no one believed him when he had brought her to the ward, what was even stranger was his story of the Whomping Willow coming to Granger's rescue.

Perhaps Granger's anger and desperation called out to useless tree, forcing it to calm it's thrashing branches and catch the crazed girl. Whatever it was, if it weren't for it Granger would be dead.

It was a foreign idea to Draco, he had only ever been used to family enemies coming to their demise or fellow Death Eaters he had never met before dying. Death had always kept itself very far away from Draco in the emotional sense. But now he simply wasn't sure what he was feeling. So there he stood, five feet away from Granger's bed, as he had been since the morning he had rushed her in.

Madame Pomfrey said nothing to him as she went about her daily ministrations taking care of Hermione and he in turn said nothing to her about the welfare of his would be lover.

It had been almost a week now and Granger had still not woken up. That blasted Pomfrey woman claimed that all of her bones were healed along with some torn ligaments and that she should have woken up a long time ago, even Dumbledore had commented on her lack of vim for restoration, and those bloody Gryffindors who found it so alien to see Malfoy in the same with room with Granger constantly had gone as far as to accuse him of poisoning her. Like he had the time. So what was keeping Granger away from him?

His scowl deepened. It was just like her to cause him this great of an inconvenience. It was just like her to beg for such attention from him. And if she hadn't nearly died he wouldn't have given it.

Granger had to learn.

But in this situation he had no idea how to punish her. Seeing her jump out of that window thoroughly scarred him, she had looked so peaceful and free as she fell back first into the fog, she had looked so happy. At least happier than he had ever seen her before.

Was death what she coveted?

Was this his own doing?

No! He would not let Granger bring such emotions into their interactions with each other. Things would remain the same. Why should her attempted suicide make anything different? After all it wasn't the emotional part of her he was interested in, his eyes skimmed over her body sheathed in a thin hospital gown, it was the physical.

He turned to leave for the first time in 5 days but stopped himself as he neared the exit. He looked back at Granger for a moment.

And that moment was enough.

* * *

"We've all really missed you Hermione. Harry has tried his best to collect all of your assignments for you and has even gone and written some of your essays for you. Hahaha, I think you'd probably have to rewrite them though. A Slytherin girl came looking for you yesterday, she was gorgeous, and I felt embarrassed just looking at her. She went positively bonkers when I told her you were in the hospital ward. I wish you could open your eyes and see the flowers she sent you…"

Ginny sat by Hermione's bed and continued to dictate the day's happenings to her as she had every day since the jump. She was a faithful and dedicated friend and despite her anger at Hermione for jumping in the first place, could not bear to see her friend in such a state.

"Ron's been positively miserable without you. Ferret face has gone and disappeared. You know he was here with you constantly after you jumped. He never said anything, he never sat down, he just stood in the corner there and watched you like a fucking night guard…Dumbledore says he was the one who found you after the Whomping Willow threw you into the lake, well not throw per say, more along the line of dropped"

Ginny watched her face intently as she always did for any sign of revival, and as always was steadily disappointed.

"Hermione how did that happen? I mean it's the bloody Whomping Willow. Your head should have come off or something. Dumbledore says you hit it's top branches first and that's why you're so bruised up and then he says that it picked you up and placed you in the lake, sans any thrashing or Whomping action. Did you charm it or something?"

Ginny couldn't bear to look at her face anymore. It seemed that there was so much of her best friend she didn't know, and the realization hurt.

"I have to go now 'Mione"

Ginny stood with a sad air about her. She gently pushed her friends hair back and left before she burst into tears once more.

* * *

"How is she?"

None of them had the strength to go and visit Hermione apart from Ginny so it was now customary that she report to everybody else her best friends condition.

"Still the same. I talk, she sleeps"

Ginny felt helpless. She threw herself down on one of the red couches that decorated the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron hovered above her silently.

"I wonder why she did it…"

Harry mumbled to no one in particular. Ginny sighed in vexation.

"Whatever reason she had she obviously couldn't share it with us now could she?"

She was angry, she was utterly infuriated with her best friend. She thought they shared everything with each other. Hermione's attempted suicide felt like a slap in the face to Ginny. What was there that she couldn't talk about?

"You know she had been acting strange the past couple of months…"

Ron commented, he was staring intently at Harry when he said this.

"Strange enough to kill herself?"

Harry scoffed.

"But isn't that how suicide normally goes? Nobody ever sees it coming, it's in those bloody muggle psycho-whatever books 'Mione has up in her room"

All three were silent at this. It was true Hermione's demeanor had changed, but not drastically enough to incite questions. She had just become rather reserved and much more quite, like she didn't want any trouble. She never bickered or fought with any of her Slytherin competition, in fact she all but ignored them and she would constantly disappear for nights on end.

Something had been wrong with her, and they had all noticed but it just didn't seem urgent enough to warrant their attention.

With this realization guilt slowly crept into each and every one of their systems.

Could they have stopped this?


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: ** I'm so sorry it took so long. I've been in Ghana, West Africa for the past 6 months you see and just got back to America on Monday. Thank you for waiting, read and review. No flames.

Angelina Hausra was by no means a complicated woman, she herself had often wondered how she managed to make it to 7th year with the awful grades she continuously racked up but she had surely noticed something in Hermione's eyes the day she coaxed her into helping with said disastrous grades.

Something was deeply wrong with the girl.

Angelina pondered over this as she made her way to the Slytherin dorm room. Hermione had seemed almost…defeated, which was a far cry from the great Granger Lion she had heard so many complain about.

Was it perhaps Angelina herself that caused this affliction in Hermione. Angelina knew that she was a beautiful girl having been told this many a time since the very day she was born and she did have a terrible knack of intimidating even the most confident of girls, but surely Hermione's problem had been accumulated over time.

To make matters worse now that Hermione was in the hospital she had no one to help her with her potions and she knew her beautiful charms would do nothing to that thing called Snape.

She stopped in the hallway and sighed dejectedly. It had been almost a week since she met Granger, and the fact that Hermione jumped on the very same day she met Angelina did nothing to abate her own guilt. The only problem was she had no idea what she had done to the poor girl.

She sighed again in hopelessness.

Snape was going to exterminate her.

* * *

Madame Promfrey flitted around the hospital ward in deep consternation, her eyes occasionally wandering to Hermione's bed. Surely the girl should have recovered by now. In apparent frustration she marched up to Hermione and looked her over with a trained medical eye.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the girl! Bones fixed, sprains mended, wounds healed and brusies faded so why was she still asleep? This certainly was not the Hermione she had grown accustomed to and that idea absolutely infuriated her.

Dumbledore had been of no use either, he was always so very useless to Madame Promfrey. She being a very scientific and straightforward person, Dumbledore's cryptic messages about love, heart break, depression and all sorts of extremely unscientific things had always gotten on her very last nerves. If Hermione really was in some kind of emotional pain it didn't constitute a hospital ward!

She had absolutely no idea how to fix this and the idea murdered her.

* * *

After witnessing Draco act as such a vigilant watch guard over Hermione Ginny had made absolutely sure that an eye was kept on him at all times. Draco's behavior was simply not normal. His presence next to Hermione's bed had almost gone unnoticed, he never insulted, sneered or even noticed the Gryffindor's presence. He only knew Hermione, the thought terrified Ginny a great deal.

Could Draco have something to do with the jump?

It was apparently obvious that Draco had not physically pushed Hermione or done anything to harm her but that still didn't stop Ginny from thinking he was the culprit in all of this. She simply could not stomach the blame herself.

She watched him quietly while he ate in the Great Hall, all around him the other Slytherin's were laughing, making jokes and being down right jolly but Draco, oh Draco, he ate silently as if he was in his own world. When comments were made to his benefit he did nothing but nod and kept that cold demeanor. His entire aura screamed Antarctica, more so than usual. Draco was not a reserved person, he was the prince of the Slytherin's for goodness sake he had always been in his element when around them but this stark difference was a far cry from his Princely days.

What was up with Draco?

He caught her eye and froze, Ginny had always been a brave, stubborn and extremely hot headed person and all of these traits added up to her refusing to look away. She wanted him to know that she was on to him, she wanted him to realize that she would find out his secret not matter what it took.

And then she saw her, that beautiful girl who had brought the flowers to Hermione. She all but floated on to the scene and placed a hand on Draco's shoulder almost demanding his attention. Ginny knew that if anybody else had taken this measure of familiarity they would have been on the floor in seconds but Draco seemed to know this touch, almost seemed to welcome it. Ginny could not here the words that were being exchanged between the two but they certainly looked quite serious.

Draco stood up to leave with Angelina but not before taking one last look in Ginny's direction. Her gaze hardened immediately almost as if she were challenging him.

He smirked and turned his back.

Her resolve multiplied ten fold.


	4. Chapter 4

_No matter where you go…there you are. _

The pure unadulterated light that encompassed the medical ward all but attacked Hermione's groggy senses. She had never encountered anything so bright in her life and the onslaught only made her want to withdraw in retreat.

"I think you've rested long enough Miss. Granger"

Dumbledore had been at the foot of her bed for quite some time now, his gentle and aged hands rested in his lap as he lounged in the chair he resided in. She sat up in confusion, not at all sure where she was.

"How do you feel?"

There was so much in that answer she wasn't ready to convey to anyone just yet, not before she figured it out herself. She looked straight at him, trying to concentrate on anything but the ache in her body. He looked relatively calm as usual and held that famous Dumbledore smile that had graced the cover of thousands of books and confectionery items. He had always been so damn all knowing.

"The Whomping Willow has been somewhat of an enigma to the students of Hogwarts for a good number of centuries now…"

He seemed to utter this to no one in particular as his gaze was no longer on her instead it penetrated the ceiling to floor window adjacent to them.

"Always attacking anyone who came near, perceiving them as a danger to itself and its surroundings, but every so often…"

He stood up and walked closer to the window, stopping directly in front of it seeming to be in deep thought.

"Every so often it seems to empathize with a student who it considers no threat, even comes as far as to pity said student…and in your case save said students life"

Hermione blushed violently at this, as she had been listening intently to his halfway sermon.

"I had no intention of-"

She began to sputter. He turned to look at her with the smile and interrupted.

"Of dying?"

He said it so simply that the fully effect of what she had attempted came crashing into Hermione like a train. She was never herself when it came to him, she had always known that, but to attempt to end herself completely because of him just hurt too much for Hermione to realize. He had almost killed her.

Her hands clenched into fists as the tears began to pour. She was so angry with herself, and so utterly dejected. Dumbledore just stood there, almost shocked her outburst of emotion, he had been expecting it of course, but to see the poor child so raw and so hurt somewhat unnerved him. Never having been in love himself, he could only hope to understand.

"I don't want to die, I never did…I just wanted to escape"

She choked out amidst the tears. Trying to explain herself to both her own understanding and his.

"I couldn't do it anymore, I felt so utterly inferior! He was just toying with me! I am nothing to him, nothing, I'm not even the enemy anymore…"

He made no move to comfort her instead stood and regarded her with unease. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the window, he really had no idea what to do, wandering why he continued to put himself into such situations while he watched the Whomping Willow thrashing wildly at an agile blue bird. The animals certainly loved to torment this easily agitated vegetation, just as continues heart broken students seemed to enjoy tormenting him. Was it the season that called for such remonstrations?

"We begin to stop…in order simply to begin again"

He whispered. He then walked back to Hermione's bed with a quite cheerful countenance, a huge contrast to her own despondent one.

"You have the weekend to recuperate before you continue with your studies on Monday, and I beg of you to be careful Snape is particularly looking forward to your return. I am afraid I am not very good with such things Miss. Granger. I have never, you see, been so in love myself, so it seems I cannot assist you in such endeavors, but I beseech you to be sure to let me know when you're at your wit ends before you jump out of anymore windows."

She sobbed even harder.

"I do not think the Whomping Willow will be as forgiving the second time around, but I assure you that you have your friends, the people that love you and I do not think it fair that you have been keeping your broken heart from them, is it not their place to help you mend it? Begin again Miss. Granger. "

He left shortly after. Leaving Hermione a sniveling mess.

She simply could not believe how far she had come, and could not even remember how this whole mess had even started. They had hated each other with such passion; they both thought the other a disgrace to mankind so when? When did she fall in love?

She looked into the light, feeling the glow of the sun warm her entire being. She knew not which way to turn, which way was right. She knew not where her heart was.

But she knew pain.

And it was enough to terrify her.

_We begin to stop…in order simply to begin again._


	5. Chapter 5

He was dreaming again

He was dreaming again. She could only guess of what. But she knew it wasn't her. He had never seen her in that light, not even when they were together. It hurt.

Like everything else did. It hurt so much that she didn't care for it anymore.

She lay beside him quietly relishing the feel of him next to her. She had always coveted his protection, a gift that he rarely ever gave. She knew it was only bestowed on her because of their family ties. It helped that they're mothers were so close; the Malfoys had always been a great source of comfort during her family's great tragedy.

"The greatest one of all"

She looked to the ceiling of the Slytherin Common Room wandering why he was the only one immune to her. He cared for her, she knew that, he had to to be able keep such a close eye on her considering the circumstances and when they're parents declared them betrothed he didn't even bat an eyelash. In fact he didn't seem to care at all, almost as if he was expecting it.

Was she that mundane to him? Were they so mundane to him?

It was true she was not intelligent, she had been told so many times before that it was now a simple fact of life, but what she did not have in mental capacity she made up for in beauty. She glanced at her reflection in a small mirror opposite where she lay touching her face as she examined God's work.

She was near flawless.

She looked back at the boy lying innocently next to her on the sofa.

He was as well.

They were perfect for each other. So why did it seem so monotonous?

"She's lucky she's such a stunner or I would've drained all that tainted blood out of her perfect little body ages ago"

She heard laughter come from the entrance and immediately tensed up. She knew they would do no harm but the fear festered inside of her constantly.

"Isn't it a shame though? The Hausra's have a squib in the family. I don't know why they haven't killed the abomination yet"

The group of fifth year boys whom the voices belonged to poured noisily into the common room and immediately silenced. Squib or not, Angelina Hausra was still a formidable force, especially with the support of the Malfoy family. She raised her chin willing them to submit to the hierarchy set in place. She hated this system, she resented it so much but she willingly remained a victim. It was how the Slytherin world worked. Everything was laced into your family blood. And the Hausra's were the purest of the bunch.

Well they were.

They complied without a word; almost thankful that they're despicable words had gone seemingly unnoticed and passed through the common room head down too scared to make eye contact. She looked back at Malfoy.

He was all she had now.

But was it enough?

* * *

She had been having trouble breathing since she had woken up. It was almost as if the air was too much for her body to take as if life was far too much for it. But she would fight it, as she always did and as she would learn to do all over again.

She said nothing to them. All three of their faces were crowded around her bed, fluttering here and there in an attempt to care for her. In truth she had no idea what to say, and thankfully it seemed they didn't either.

She watched them quietly as she concentrated on her breath. She was almost sure her lungs had shrunk. Ron had yet to look her in the eye and as helpful as Ginny was being she knew anger when she saw it. Harry was perhaps the only one who was acting as normally as possible and she knew that he was just relieved that she was safe. She knew that somehow he understood her need for silence.

"Angelina Hausra asks for you almost every day"

A sharp pain in her stomach accompanied the sound of Ginny's voice as it assaulted her ears.

Angelina Hausra.

She had forgotten about that. Her chest constricted once more as she tried to deepen her breathing exercises. Harry laughed unknowingly and added.

"That girl is so fit! Every time she walks by I lose concentration. Do you think you could set me up with her?"

She laughed, as she knew she should but fought hard to hide her discontent.

"I've finished packing Hermione"

Ron finally spoke, slinging the weekender over his shoulder; he stood quite sheepishly in front of them all.

"I'll help you up shall I?"

Harry stood to help her but she batted him off.

"I can do it, I'm not crippled you know"

She stood with the little strength she had, feigning a smile as they led her out of the ward. Ron and Harry stood on either side of her supporting her with their combined strength whilst Ginny tagged quietly behind her mind deep in thought as she gazed at Hermione's messy curls.

She wanted to know, she needed to know.

Ginny saw the look in Hermione's eyes when she said Angelina's name. It was something she was sure she had seen many times but never in her best friend.

Jealousy.

She could hear them laughing and the sound infuriated her because she knew it was all a lie. Just like Draco, just like Angelina.

Everyone was lying! But no one could see it. There was so much more to this! Perhaps some deep family curse, some kind of dark magic that would slowly take hold of them all, Ginny knew demonic possession when she saw it and was willing to swear on her life that something along those lines had afflicted the great Hermione Granger.

Before she knew it they were already in the Gryffindor common rooms and it was her turn to take over. She quietly took the bag from Ron and attempted to balance Hermione on her other arms as she led her up the stairs.

The said nothing to each other and they both knew why, there was too much of a gap between them now, and neither knew how to feel it. Hermione wished she could tell Ginny all that was on her heart, but she was so afraid, so afraid that if she spoke it out loud it would seem idiotic, it would seem meaningless and it would seem childish.

She knew Ginny, so quick to anger, Ginny who only saw in black and white. There was never any room for grey, and grey all but defined Hermione's very being now. She couldn't risk not being understood and feeling even more alienated from the world than she already did.

But she knew that she owed it to her.

She knew that it was a step she'd have to take to being again.

Ginny placed her bag on her bed and stood in front of Hermione silently. They gazed at each other almost willing telepathy. But they both knew the words neither wanted to face would have to be spoken out loud.

Hermione readied herself she could almost feel the tension lift as she let the words slip out of her mouth.

"I am in love with Draco Malfoy"

And with that Ginny Weasley fell flat on her face.


	6. Chapter 6

Dumbledore sat quietly in his office; an opened letter that had been written in great haste lay dormant on his desk. He had his eyes closed and was in deep thought. A sign of movement from the entrance of his office somewhat awoke him for this reverie and he was greeted by the unhappy Severus Snape.

"Have you heard the news Severus?"

Snape had never enjoyed Dumbledore's pension for first names and tried very hard to hide his annoyance when he answered.

"About Angelina Hausra?"

Dumbledore nodded but kept quiet; imploring him to continue.

"It would seem a curse has been placed on her by one of her family's great enemies; all of her magical skill has been stripped and she has been left nothing but a squib"

Dumbledore locked eyes on Snape's own and asked.

"And how are her class mates dealing with this?"

Snape sighed as if the entire world were on his shoulders.

"They have behaved as expected and it has come down to Draco Malfoy escorting her almost everywhere. Their families are alleys of some sorts. I have done what I can as well Professor but I am not sure how long this will last, even with magical capability Angelina was not a favored individual."

Dumbledore laughed at this.

"Beauty can be such a curse."

He stood to retrieve a book from an adjacent bookshelf adding.

"I have also been informed that the two are to be married"

Snape nodded solemnly.

"Yes, to abate further danger. Both sides have been assured by various Magical medics that she will not produce squib children."

"And what of Hermione Granger?"

Snape rolled his eyes and sighed once more. Dumbledore's ridiculous theory of a Malfoy and Granger sordid love affair was getting on his very last nerve.

"What of the child?"

He asked quite exasperated.

"Has any attempt of contact been made?"

"Why would there be?"

There was a distinct hint of venom in Snape's tone that caused Dumbledore to laugh once more.

"You would do well as to not let any harm come to Ms. Hausra while she is on Hogwarts grounds. That will be all for today Severus"

Severus bowed and left quietly leaving Dumbledore to muse a little bit more. He was beginning to find life quite a bore in his recent years as headmaster. With Voldemort finished there was simply nothing to entertain him anymore, and he found the prospect of Hogwarts very own Romeo and Juliet too exciting to pass up. Snape may not have had an interest but he certainly did.

* * *

"Oh I do hope Hermione Granger has woken up…Draco do you think she has?"

Angelina sat at the foot of his bed in a sea of open schoolbooks, none of which she had bothered to pick up. Draco had never been able to understand how she had made it as far as 7th year, and had always just assumed that there had been some kind of divine intervention when it had come to her OWLS. He sat on his bed peering down at his in apparent disappointment. She was beautiful true, and she knew him better then any, but what good did that knowledge do her if she was so bloody daft?

"Oh Draco! What am I do? She was supposed to help me ages ago! And Snape is getting bloodier by the day! I could cry!"

She was making such a scene, it was of course something he was used to after having grown up with quaint sense of drama but after she had been afflicted little acts like these amazed him.

She had been attacked in the dead of the night, it had been one of the final days of their summer vacation and he had seen her earlier that day. Who ever the perpetrator was slipped in without detection just as easily as he had slipped out. They were no closer to finding the criminal or to finding a cure to this undocumented curse.

She had said nothing upon realizing what had happened. She had done nothing, she had not cried, she had not screamed she had just…. Been. Had even gone as far as to joke about it, which of course instigated a thorough beating from her Mother. It was simply as if she didn't care whether she had power or not. Like she had never expected to use it so it being gone did no damage to her.

She was certainly more complicated then she let out to be.

But none were more perplexing then his Granger. He thought of her almost every day against his will, it had been said that she had awoken and was now in the confines of the Gryffindor dormitory. He wondered if she was waiting for him, if she needed him like he did her.

He found that he had not been able to touch another since her unavailability, and that was something that infuriated him. When had she become so important to his being? To his need?

But it did not matter. Malfoy pride was much stronger than Malfoy libido.

"She woke up today apparently"

He offered to Angelina who visibly brightened at his words. She jumped up in victory sending books flying everywhere.

"I won't die! Draco! I want to go see her! Please take me to go see her!"

She did not notice the look on Draco's face as she made a show of looking for her unwritten Potions essay. Draco knew she would have wanted to go visit Granger, but surely on her own time? He then realized with sheer terror that now that Hogwarts knew of the curse she would have none.

"Draco! COME ALONG THEN!"

She was already half way down the hall, rushing in determination to her would be savior. Draco got off the bed and looked up to the ceiling, wandering what God thought his life to be a joke.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. Malfoy did this to you?"

It had been a very vexing hour for Hermione as she had been trying desperately to explain past events to her best friend who simply couldn't seem to swallow the truth and who had been trying desperately to find Malfoy to be the enemy.

"No Ginny, I did this to myself"

"Because of Malfoy?"

"Yes."

She had told Ginny everything, from the very beginning up till now. From when he had touched her hand in the library accidentally when reaching for the same book for the same essay they had both been writing. A touch that had involuntary electrified her, a touch she was sure he had felt as well. She had told Ginny about what had happened afterwards, about how she had begun to watch him, noticing how he chewed his food so slowly and precisely and how she had begun to wander if that was how he made love.

She had told Ginny about how she had begun to follow him, unnoticed at first, about how she had begun to obsess about the enemy. Trying with all her might to fight her curiosity. She had told Ginny about how he caught her, clutching her arms in anger as he shook her violently demanding to know why she had been tailing him. About how his words did not hurt as much as they used to, about how while he was threatening her all she could concentrate on were his lips, and about how she had envisioned them on her neck and all over her body.

She had told Ginny about how she was sure she had lost her mind, how she was sure she was under the influence of a love potion, probably some sick joke by some sick Slytherin. About how she had brewed an antidote for herself and had taken it before Potions with Slytherin to cement her change in behavior.

She had told Ginny about how disgusted she was with herself after she had realized that she had not been drugged that she had to excuse herself from class for fear of retching over her work. About how Malfoy had followed her, at first only to taunt her, and then after for only God knows what. About how from the very beginning he toyed with her, kept her close then threw her away, taking delight in his power over. About how he had kissed her that day, so painfully yet so rousing. And about how he had laughed at her afterwards, tormenting her Judas of a heart with his words of betrayal and about how she had feared the next day, believing that her Slytherin enemy had spilled the beans on her infatuation.

She had told Ginny about how her fear increased ten fold when she found that he had done nothing of the sort.

About how that day after classes while she was studying in the library he pulled her into a dark corner and had set her body on fire. About how ashamed, used and disgusted she felt afterwards. About how after she had finished with her books he had been waiting outside the Library doors and took her hand without a word and had led her to the astronomy tower.

She told Ginny about how that was the day she had been conquered in every sense of the word.

And now Ginny sat opposite of her trying her best to understand it all, but through all of her equations only one answer came readily.

"So Malfoy did this to you?"


	7. Chapter 7

Draco Malfoy stood in front of the Gryffindor common room entrance with a look of pure annoyance painted on his aristocratic features.

He was not supposed to be here.

Angelina was less than 5 feet in front of him trying to convince a first year who was clearly memorized by her unwarranted beauty to let them in, her determination to see Hermione Granger knew no bounds he noted.

And the idea that this was about so much more than Snape's exorbitant about of Potions work began to nest in the confines of his mind.

He regarded her for a moment, trying to detect any tell tale signs of deception in her person.

Although she had never been particularly smart with her schoolwork he could not deny that Angelina had a knack with human beings, emotions to be specific and with this knowledge a small amount of fear began to fester in his being.

"I'm very sorry Angelina letting you in would be no problem but I can't let him in, they'd kill me"

Angelina glanced back at Draco for a moment biting her lip in consternation in a moment of acute indecision.

Here was her chance to finally see Hermione Granger, here was the situation she had been coveting ever since the girl took that fatal tumble off of the astronomy tower, she didn't know what it was about the famed muggle born that attracted her so but at this particular moment in time she just had to have this conference.

"It's okay, I understand, he won't come in with me"

She turned her attention to Draco and added.

"Draco do you mind?"

His countenance of annoyance did not lighten as he nodded his head and walked away, being dismissed so soundly did nothing to alleviate his worries.

She was certainly more cunning than she let on. A true Slytherin after all.

This was not good; this was not good at all.

Angelina turned back to the first year with her most dazzling smile and fought the need to smirk in satisfaction when he blushed and stammered out the password.

* * *

The rest of their conversation had been incredibly exhausting for Hermione as she attempted to relay every single thought she had ever had about the forbidden Slytherin to her best friend. Ginny had not helped in these ministrations because she could not seem to fathom the idea of Draco Malfoy returning any kind of affection to his sworn enemy not only by blood but by her associations as well.

But as her mind slowly wrapped itself around the idea, certain things began to come into light.

"So all those nights you weren't in your cot?"

Hermione nodded with a sad smile.

"I was with him"

Ginny grimaced.

"And all those Hogsmeade weekends you passed up?"

"I was with him"

"Bloody fucking hell Hermione"

Hermione looked down at her hands, fully aware of the waves of disappointment Ginny was dispelling from her person. Tears threatened to fall as the enormity of it all weighed down upon her, she still had to tell Ron and Harry, it wasn't fair to them that she kept this secret, especially now that she was so unstable.

All of a sudden she was wrapped in Ginny's arms and finally felt the comfort of a shared secret.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner, I'm sorry I wasn't there, I'm sorry I didn't punch the little git in the throat when I had the damn chance, I'm sorry you couldn't talk to me on account of the fact that I'm such a judgmental bitch and I'm sorry he didn't jump after you"

They remained there for a moment, tears freely falling from both parties as the truth surrounded them so completely.

Releasing such anguished tears in such comforting company was just the remedy Hermione Granger needed, and as her young companion cradled her in her arms and soothingly ran her soft hands through her own wild mess of curls she began to understand Dumbledore's cryptic words.

She would begin again.

She had no other choice.

Now if only her heart would follow suit.

As she began to drift off to sleep a pair of steel grey eyes flickered through her temperamental thoughts.

Would she ever be rid of him?

"I'm so sorry"


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors Note: **Hey peoples. I know it's been ages, but so much had been going on in my life and I finally have the time and the patience to finish what I started. I hope you enjoy this and I would appreciate your reviews.

Thank you.

* * *

Ginny sat on the edge of Hermione's bed her face set in a determined scowl. So she knew the reason behind her best friends pain, but how on earth was she supposed to procure a remedy?

Having only been used to the angst and stress that came along with fallen in love with the Boy Who Lived she had no idea how to combat this newest enemy.

Hermione Granger was in love with Draco Malfoy.

Hermione Granger had sex with Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy had sex with Hermione Granger.

"Wait, what?"

One sided affection was certainly something she could deal with, but the very thought that Draco Malfoy seemed to in a way, return said affection threw her for another ridiculously large loop.

The Draco Malfoy she knew and saw day in and day out, held a constant snarl directed to poor and unsuspecting muggle borns, the Draco Malfoy she knew had tormented Hermione Granger for years because of her birth and her friends, the Draco Malfoy she knew would never even think to sully himself with the likes of a….mudblood.

But he did.

And he had.

And by the sound of it he probably would again.

But why?

It went against everything Draco Malfoy stood for, wizards purity and all that rubbish, he hadn't spent the past 6 years of Ginny's school career calling her a blood traitor for nothing, he believed in the evil he spewed.

He was a fucking Malfoy for Merlin's sake!

She looked back to her sleeping best friend, trying to fight off a twinge of jealousy that momentarily overcame her.

Malfoy or not, managing to gain the Ice Lords attention was a feat in itself.

Now if only she could practice the same tactics on a certain Potter.

"Well…"

She stood up straightened her robes and placed a blanket over Hermione lest she became cold, then turned her back to the bed and made her way down to the common room.

"First things first"

* * *

Angelina Hausra had clearly not thought her plan through, although she knew no harm would come to her once she stepped in the lion's den she did not make any allowances for the blatant amount of hostility she was now surrounded by.

She had momentarily forgotten her own house placement in her rush to see the fallen lioness.

All she had wanted to do was to see Hermione, of course her Potions work could've waited but now this was about so much more than Snape's bloodiness towards her, ever since Granger had jumped she had fought a great deal amount of guilt with her part in the entire matter and had to know that she had nothing to do with Hermione's moment of weakness.

She had to know that she was not a bad person.

She had been placed in Slytherin yes, but for her name and her blood alone, her voice of protest had not been loud enough for the Sorting Hat to hear because she knew that if she had been placed anywhere else her parents would've surely killed her, so she kept silent and was against her will placed in the darkest corner of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But she had never been like the rest of them, she was cunning yes, she would be successful of course but that success would be due to her social standing alone, but she was not evil.

She had never been.

And she certainly had tried.

But to cause so much damage to another human simply for existing was far too much of a Slytherin attribute for her to stomach and that was why she now stood with her white flag waving so desperately in the middle of the Gryffindor common room.

But things were not going as planned.

As soon as she stepped through the portrait opening she was accosted by malevolence so unadulterated it could've given Slytherin's own distaste for muggle borns a run for it's money.

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter now stood in front of her trying to fend off the venom in an attempt to ask her was she had wanted and why she had come so far for it, but their house mates were giving them a large amount of trouble.

She was after all, a Slytherin, then followed by that Draco Malfoy's fiancé and last but not least a pure blood whose family had made far too much money feeding off the trouble's in the wizarding world.

No one seemed to understand that she had asked for none of this, no one seemed to realize that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of those things, no one ever saw how much she yearned for some amount of normalcy, how she would kill to have been born as a Weasley, surrounded by such love and warmth or how she would do absolutely anything to have such friends who would fight for her instead of laugh at her misery.

"I'm sorry"

She bit out as the tears began to overflow.

"I just wanted to make sure Hermione was alright"

The surrounding Gryffindor's stared at her in shock, not was Angelina Hausra, descendant of Merlin himself, blatantly crying in front of the enemy but she had also referred to their most beloved princess by her first name while showing a large amount of concern, this was not what the lot of them had expected and now felt rather sheepish after having thrown out so much hatred to someone who clearly did not deserve it.

Ron glared at them and turned to weeping girl.

"It's alright"

He awkwardly patted her shoulder.

"I'll go up and ask if she's awake shall I?"

Harry offered. She nodded through her tears as Ron led her to a warm sofa strategically placed in front of the fireplace.

"No Harry she's asleep, you know how much shit she's been through it'd be terribly-"

Ginny Weasley stood in front of her resembling something like a fish out of water.

_Oh fuck…_

Angelina was looking up at her, her eyes filled with tears and a stark amount of hope. Ron sat to her left, an arm around her shoulder attempting to comfort her while taking small sniffs of her golden hair.

He had always been a sucker for blondes.

Harry took the seat to her left and offered the green-eyed goddess a handkerchief, trying his very best to not resemble a beet when she smiled shyly at him.

_Oh fuckity fuck…_

Ginny took a deep breath trying her very hardest not to detest the innocent girl who sat in front of her. It wouldn't do anybody any good if she were to be a right bitch to someone who clearly had done nothing to warrant said behavior.

"I'm really sorry Angelina, but Hermione just fell asleep"

This was clearly not the news Angelina had been hoping for and even more tears began to spill. Ron glared at Ginny as she if were bereft of any amount of tact and soothingly rubbed Angelina's back, Harry was attempting to alleviate the situation by offering to bring Hermione to her when she felt better.

And Ginny was stuck.

She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be consoling Angelina Hausra seeing as though she had been the catalyst to Hermione's breakdown and any attempt at peace keeping would rub her sense of justice the wrong way and she couldn't exactly ignore the blubbering girl because she was just as innocent as Draco was guilty.

She couldn't possibly be aware of the Granger-Malfoy affair otherwise she wouldn't have so eagerly thrown herself into the enemies midst.

But then again….

Ginny looked hard at the blubbering blonde in front of her.

She couldn't be THAT daft.

She was a Slytherin after all.

* * *

Draco Malfoy stood at the edge of the black lake in what seemed to be deep thought. He had left Angelina not long ago and couldn't help but wonder how the reunion went, and how his would go down in the future.

If he were to even consider being reacquainted with the mudblood that is. He didn't know what it was that attracted her to him, or he to her, he just knew that he detested it.

He ran a hand through his silky blonde locks in distress.

He should've crushed her when he began to notice her lingering gazes, and her pretty blushes whenever he felt the need to insult her. He should've made a fool out of her in front of the entire school when he realized she had begun to follow him. He should've thrown her away after the first taste, but there was something about the way she gazed up at him riding the wave of pure and desperate pleasure that kept him coming back for more.

There was something about the way she needed him so completely even though it was forbidden, it was something about the way she molded herself to be near him, to be better for him, to please him.

There was something about the way her eyes lit up whenever she saw him; about the way she lingered after each class with him just to momentarily brush her hand up against his or whisper words of admiration in the silence of an abandoned classroom.

There was something about the way she'd pull her wild curls into a messy bun as she worked tirelessly over a potion, or how she'd bite her lip during bouts of deep concentration as she worked on her perfect essay's in the library, about the way she'd bend over backwards to help anyone in need regardless of how much it was an inconvenience to her.

There was something about the way her whole face would light up with a glow whenever she was surrounded by her little friends, something about the way she carried herself in the corridors of the castle, something about the way she lied so easily to hide her addiction to him, something about the way she wanted him so completely and unconditionally.

And there was something about the way she had looked at him the night before she jumped, something about the deep contempt mixed with downright devotion that drove him absolutely mad.

He had resolved to stay away from her, to end all this trouble before it really began, she had tried to kill herself for Merlin's sake and he simply did not have the time or the patience to deal with such melodramatics. They weren't even from the same the worlds, she was a filthy muggle born and he was the crème de la crème of the Wizarding society and whatever it is they had could not possibly survive outside Hogwarts walls.

But now his betrothed was taking great lengths to associate herself with the mudblood, which in turn would force him to be around Granger more than was necessary, Angelina now being unable to defend herself from her family enemies without her magical power depended on Draco for her safety, so anywhere she went he was forced to also.

This was not good.

This was not good at all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Note:** I'm really enjoying writing this, a lot Hermione's words and actions are actually snippets from a journal I kept during one of the most angst ridden periods of my teenage life, coming to terms with it and translating in a such a way is quite refreshing.

Thank you for your time.

* * *

She had been awake for some time now and had taken great pains not to wake up any of her housemates as she scurried about the room for a quill and some parchment. She had finally made the decision that had caused her much angst in the passing months and her own foolish and impulsive attempt on her life had brought back traits of the old Hermione Granger.

Traits of the lioness she was supposed to be.

She didn't want him anymore, at least not at the very moment, as the faces of her friends brought themselves into her mind a large dose of guilt engulfed her.

She had been so selfish in her desperation and so selfish in her pain.

It was a foreign feeling to her, the amount of conviction she felt in regards to Draco Malfoy at the present point in time almost scared her. All the pain and difficulty she had foreseen to go hand in hand with this had not made itself present. She wasn't quite sure of what to do.

The pride she thought she had lost came back with full force and hit her with power she never knew it had. It seemed as though she, in a way, had always been ready for this, or maybe what happened last finally managed to sober her up. She now understood that she simply wasn't ready.

And if she was to be completely honest, she never wanted to be.

You love but never learn. You learn then never love.

So what was left? She wanted to stand tall and dignified. She wanted to regret with the knowledge that if she could go back in time she would do it all over again because as much as it disabled her, somehow it was needed.

She just didn't know what for.

She was still as stuck as she was yesterday but she could see some light ahead.

She would manage. Bit by bit.

And with that last thought she set about the task to officially end her correspondence with the Slytherin Prince.

_Dear Draco…_

Her thoughts were scratched so deftly into the parchment before her, not a word was out of place and no feeling delayed as she attempted to sever all romantic ties with the love of her life.

The great and dark love of her inconsequential life.

She knew that it would not be this easy, but she could do nothing else but try, she owed her friends that.

She sealed the letter with haste and handed it to Hedwig faithfully feeding him a treat in payment. He quietly hooted, took off and was soon out of sight. She stood by the window trying not to break down in tears.

It would not be long now.

She glanced back at Ginny who was asleep in a cot not far from her own and her commitment only strengthened.

She doubted that she would ever be able to not love Draco Malfoy.

But she would certainly fucking try.

* * *

There was an irritating tapping sound coming from his window and there had been for the past 20 minutes.

Draco Malfoy rolled over, clearly vexed at the disturbance and stood with groggy recognition.

It was Potter's bloody owl who was clearly just as upset as he was. He opened the window fully prepared to beat the bloody owls head in but was stopped short with a letter being thrown in his face as well as an angry owl who pecked furiously at his fingers.

He stared down at the envelope that had fallen to his feet, making a lazy attempt to swat away the angry birds who in turn screeched furiously at the terrible reception and flew off back to whence it came.

He bent down to pick up the letter.

_Draco._

It was her handwriting, so delicate and resolute.

She had written him a letter.

He moved back to his bed and sat down with a frown.

But why was she writing to him? This was not part of their interactions with one another. They had never been so…intimate.

He took opened the envelope in one swift move, discarded it and began to read the words of his mudblood lover.

_Dear Draco,_

_For hours I have been trying to find the right words to say to you that could possibly make sense in a situation such as this, but I find that there are no such words because this predicament is so far from anything sensible, so far from anything I have learnt to be right._

_I don't want to do this with you anymore. I don't and can't trust you, or myself with you for that matter. I'm not happy, and I'm falling for you, in fact I did fall and perhaps that's why the Whomping Willow took such great pains to save my life._

_I don't feel like I'm anything to you, and I could deal with that but in between your nonchalance and your objectiveness towards my person I became really weak. I can't want anything from you because you're simply not good for me or my survival. You make me look and feel like a complete idiot. _

_So I am going to attempt to salvage what is left of my dignity. Or at least the small amount of dignity I could muster with my affliction of muggle born blood. _

_When it all comes down to it, I cannot let my heart continue on this treacherous path because your inevitable betrayal would kill me. _

_I'm going to forget you. _

_I'm going to forget all those nights, those stupid fights, your stupid smile, your stupid hair, your intelligence, your gentle words and rough kisses and how stupid you made me feel through all the stupidity of my eyes hazy with love. _

_I attempted to kill myself in trying to get away from you and the effect you have on my body, and my soul. _

_So I'm wiping the slate clean. _

_And I forgive you. _

_As I forgave myself. _

_I bid you adieu. _

_Sincerely, _

_Hermione Granger._

And that was it.

He felt decidedly empty as he read her words over and over again, there was no room for questioning, no room for arguments, she had simply shut the door on him.

And what right did she have to as such? What right did she have to end something so insignificant with Draco Malfoy? What right did she have to think that his little game with her warranted such a letter?

"The little mudblood bitch"

He whispered in anger.

She had played her game well and now thought to toss him aside like he was one of her many Gryffindork devotees.

He was a fucking Malfoy and he would decide when this game would end. He would decide when she was to stop loving him and he would decide what made her happy and what brought the muggle born to tears.

He stood up in indignation, irrational thoughts surrounded him. Of all the things he had expected from his desperate little mudblood an ending to their affair had not been one of them.

His chest constricted as his breathing became labored.

She really though that her simple words of heartbreak would hinder him from holding her again, from running his hands through her wild curls and her soft back as she bent forward to take him, she really thought this useless letter would stop him from holding her in the dark of the night and watching her dream, hoping she was dreaming of him.

She really thought him to be some beast who fed on her affections on some flighty whim.

But was that not who he professed to be? Was that not the illusion that his entire demeanor exuded?

Was that not where he had hid his own returning attachment?

There was so much he couldn't understand about his interactions with the Gryffindor muggle born; so much he didn't even want to comprehend.

But of one this he was certain.

This was not over.


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note:** So I'm determined to finish this, I have far too many unfinished fanfics but keep in mind some of you may hate me for the planned ending, but until then enjoy.

* * *

Ginny had taken great pains to ensure that the rest of Hermione's weekend went without a hitch, great pains that happened to include sending the over zealous Angelina Hausra on a wild goose chase around the castle grounds.

Her brother and the object of her affection were doing absolutely nothing to help in this cause considering the fact that they still did not know the reason behind Hermione's distress and continuously catered to the blonde Slytherin's needs.

And Ginny, to say the least, was bloody well fed up.

Angelina this, Angelina that, every day, non stop talk about Angelina bloody Hausra assaulted her ears, they weren't even bothering to talk about Quiddtich anymore, certainly not with the blonde beauty on the radar.

Now how on earth was she supposed to compete with that?

She now understood Hermione's pain to some small degree; it was bad enough fighting for Harry's attention but to be combating for the blonde's fiancé was just too large of a battle for her to even think about waging.

She tried not to glare at the innocent girl who was sitting by Draco at the Slytherin table as she collected bits and pieces for Hermione's late breakfast, but it was certainly a hard task to manage.

She was just too fucking perfect.

Even with the damn curse, her grace and decorum in the face of it all was second to none, you take away her magical powers and the bitch still came out on top.

She resisted throwing the muffin in her hand across the great hall at the bloody pair.

That was when she noticed a pair of steel grey eyes watching her so thoroughly. Draco Malfoy was blatantly glaring at her, not that this wasn't an unusual occurrence but there was something different in his gaze to day.

It was as though he knew something.

She straightened her back, ever the Gryffindor and glared right back. She willed all her thoughts to be translated in her stony glare and at that moment she wished she had the gift of telepathy.

So she could tell him how much of a git he was.

"Ginny, how's she faring? Think she'd want to have a little picnic by the black lake later on today?"

Harry questioned her, bringing her out of her silent battle with Malfoy. She smiled down at him and nodded at his request and tried to ignore the flutter of butterflies when he smiled back and continued his conversation with Ron.

She glanced back to where Draco sat and almost screamed in anger when she found he and Angelina's seat to be empty.

_Bloody fucking Malfoy and his perfect fucking bint. _

The Weasley clan certainly wasn't known for their cool heads and calm demeanor.

* * *

Ginny made her way into the girls dormitory with a plate laden with various breakfast foods but almost dropped it when her eyes fell on her friend and more importantly what her friends held in her hands.

Hermione's hands were shaking and she looked the utter picture of anger.

Never in Ginny's wildest dreams had she ever seen the elder Gryffindor so wonderfully pissed off.

Hermione held a small piece of parchment with a one sentence on it. Without thinking Ginny put down the plate and pried the parchment from Hermione's rigid hands and read the words that had set her friend ablaze so brilliantly.

"That fucking ferret"

She whispered. The parchment read:

_It ends when I say it does mudblood bitch. _

_Your better by birth,_

_Draco Malfoy_

"THAT FUCKING PUREY CUNT!" Hermione roared.

Oh Draco Malfoy had been right about one thing.

This certainly wasn't over.

"Hermione?"

Shocked by Hermione's outburst Ginny had been thrown back onto the floor trying hard not to let the air crackling with magical energy distress her.

"I loved him, I love him, and the least who could do is have the decency to let me wallow in my defeat!!! THE LEAST HE COULD DO IS LET ME FUCKING BE!!!"

The roaring continued, and Ginny decided that the floor was a safe enough spot for her to take cover.

Hermione picked up the breakfast plate and threw it at the wall, and swiftly set the parchment on fire with her wand.

"Why do I love him Ginny? WHY DID I FALL IN LOVE WITH SUCH A RIGHT FUCKING ASS?!"

Ginny shrugged carefully as she gazed up at her friend with a hint of fear. Still clad in only her nightgown and with her wild hair even more of a mess than usual she resembled a mad woman.

"I'll show him, I may be cursed to be in love with the toe rag till the very day that I die but that doesn't mean I'll go down without a fight! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I'll show him! He'll know this pain, this anguish, this UTTER FUCKING EMBARRASMENT!!!"

Ginny was now nodding vigorously, unsure of whether Hermione even knew she was in the room, she seemed so taken with the idea of some form of revenge it appeared as though she had forgotten her surroundings entirely.

Staring at Hermione Granger in this light, Ginny Weasley asked herself for the hundred thousandth time how on earth this working force of nature managed to be subdued by likes of Draco Malfoy.

"He'll see, he'll know and he will never forget this **mudblood bitch**"

* * *

**Authors Note: **You honestly don't know how much I enjoyed writing this. Please review for goodness sake! I've had over 2000 hits on this story today and only 2 reviews (two reviews I love and cherish above all others) so please make the effort.

It would mean a great fucking deal to me.

Thank you for your time.

AND FUCKING REVIEW.

Please.


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note:** Okay so those who reviewed have my undying love and affection and this chapter is for you, those who didn't review…well you can just suck my imaginary dick can't you? I realized that I too am a criminal in the read 'em and drop 'em sense but I have since changed my ways and review everything. Ever.

So return the damn favor you lovely lazy fucks

Antiwayzzzz, thank you for taking the time out of this day to read this fanfic. A fanfic that I am DETERMINED to complete, along with all my others…I don't really know about Ironic Romance though that ish was all sorts of disturbing but you understand what I'm getting at so please.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Draco?"

After leaving the great hall, Draco accompanied Angelina to the library in hopes that the environment would encourage her to make an attempt at the schoolwork she was letting pile up. He walked beside her in deep thought, taking momentary glances at his intended.

She had stopped walking and now looked up at him expectantly.

He peered down at her for a moment taking in all of the delicate features he was told he would spend the rest of his life with, all the delicate features his children would share.

"Do you love me?"

It was a strange question to ask him she knew, Slytherin pairings rarely ever included love, her parents certainly didn't love each other, probably never would and Draco's parents did not love one another either, but could he love her?

Her pension for wavering away from the stoic laws and regulations of her social class always seemed strange to Malfoy, she had been born without a care in the world, with beauty to match the Gods and enough money to last 1000 lifetimes, all she should be worrying about was baring more pure blood children and continuing to live her life rich, beautiful and careless, but here she was busying about the worries of romance, the worries of love.

"No, I do not"

He could never lie to her; she was just too innocent in his eyes to warrant such a deception. She looked up at him with a brave eyes and a small smile that reminded him so much of his lost little mudblood.

"I didn't think so"

She whispered then continued their trek to the library leaving Draco behind momentarily stunned by her words. But he caught up with her moments later and sat down at the desk she had procured on her own in a corner of the library.

She already had a few books opened up around her, making quite a show of working on an essay and seemed quite intent on leaving Draco to his thoughts.

He sighed with resignation and interlaced his fingers behind his neck in an attempt to relax. He threw his head back and stared at the ceiling as the memories over came him.

* * *

"_Draco?"_

_He looked down at the Gryffindor in his arms gazing up at him and was quite unnerved by the devotion laced with her own sense of betrayal that portrayed itself so clearly through her brown eyes._

"_Do you love me?" She whispered. _

_She did not break eye contact as the desperation within her built with each second he remained silent, but she couldn't possibly understand the war that had been waged inside of Malfoy as a result of that question. _

_Did he love her? _

_Hell, did he even love? _

_He was meant for many things, his future had always been certain. Marriage to a beautiful pure blood witch, beautiful pure blood children and an equally as gorgeous Gringotts vault and as a result of this he had no time to sully himself with the joys of life, with the frail emotions known as love and happiness. _

_He was a Malfoy and he had a script to follow. _

_The moonlight through the window covered her so completely, illuminating the shadows of her face. _

_She could be so beautiful at times like this. Her small hands where splayed so delicately on his chest and she seemed to cling onto to him as if he were the most important thing in the world to her. He wrapped his own arms around her body more tightly and wondered if he would be happy to do this for the rest of his life?_

_If he could be happy with a mudblood? Something that would destroy the lines of his ancestry, his family and his legacy so completely._

_Would he risk poverty to have Hermione Granger look at him with such adoration until the day he died? _

_Yes. Yes he would. _

_A wave of disgust overcame him and a scowl muddied his handsome face. _

"_No"_

_He answered swiftly. _

_She sighed and laid her head on his muscled chest, eyes closed to fight off the onslaught of tears that would sooner or later have to be released and a sad smile graced the line of her face. _

_She knew he didn't love her, she knew he couldn't love her, but the confirmation of such still felt as though someone had stabbed her in chest. _

"_I didn't think so"_

_

* * *

_

"Draco?"

He woke up with a start, feeling as though someone had just ripped him out of a dream. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head trying to achieve some semblance of normalcy in his actions.

"Yes?"

She was watching him closely, too closely, and by the looks of it had been for quite some time now.

"What do you think about when you get that far away look on your face?"

He blanched at the question and somewhat resembled a deer in headlights trying to suss out if she had any inclination about his secret obsession.

"You"

He answered all too quickly and frowned when he realized his obvious attempt at flattery had not flown with his childhood friend. She knew something he realized, she suspected something and once she sunk her onto something Angelina Hausra rarely ever released until she was completely satisfied, there were polar opposites, where she was passionate and forthright he was deceptive and nonchalant. An idea to just spill it all to his understanding friend presented itself but disappeared just as quickly as it came.

Could he trust her?

She glared at him silently, her quill frozen in the air as she waited for an answer.

He forced a laugh, intent of feigning light hearted nature in the face of such peril.

"Nothing you should worry yourself with my old friend"

He offered a smile and hoped that she would take it as such; he could not afford to have to hide his intentions from her, especially now that she was so determined to befriend Hermione Granger.

"Fine" She answered curtly and returned the quill to parchment.

He let out a sigh of relief and looked at her once more realizing that this issue was very far from being over.

Whether or not she liked to admit it she was most certainly a Slytherin.

* * *

"So Harry and Ron want to have a picnic by the black lake today? Think you're up for it?"

Ginny was sprawled quite lazily on Hermione's bed levitating a book every so often for her own amusement. Hermione was flitting around the dorm room in frenzy and seemed quite back to her old self.

"Oh? Well that sounds like a lovely idea"

She growled in annoyance when Ginny levitated the book she had spent the past 10 minutes looking for in front of her face quite haughtily.

"Ginny Weasley I demand that you desist your actions this instant and help me find that spell!"

Ginny got up with a huff and made a show of looking.

"Hermione you do know that if you do actually go through with this you're risking a stint in Azkaban?"

Hermione laughed quite maniacally and retorted.

"Like they would send the brightest witch of her day to a place such as Azkaban"

Ginny looked at her incredulously. So maybe thinking the old Hermione Granger was back was quite a stretch, this brand new shiny Hermione seemed quite off her bloody rocker.

"And besides…"

She added darkly.

"They'd have to catch me first"

* * *

**Authors Notes: **I wonder what on earth our angst ridden Granger has up her sleeve for the deserving Malfoy?

Review or so help me….


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors Note: **So there's this reviewer right? Who I think I've fallen in love with because of the detail in her reviews, dear Scarlet Witch Extreme thank you so much for your support and appreciation, I'm really getting back into the swing of things you know? This relationship of Hermione and Draco's is based on one of my own that did terrible things to my person and my talent as a writer and I somehow feel that translating it all in such a way is a very lovely form of therapy. So again, I thank you.

Now fucking review.

P.S – Adele's album is extreme inspiration for this chapter. Specifically "First Love" the blubbering female me always roars it's ugly head when I hear that song.

* * *

Her fingers lined the pages of the worn library book with little interest; and she glanced up at her companion with trepidation.

He was gone again.

He had his eyes closed, and his face directed towards the ceiling as the clogs in his head churned around whatever had him so twisted. Angelina looked back to her own hands, wondering what they would feel like interlaced in his own.

Wondering if it would feel…right.

She wanted to be in love. She so desperately wanted to be in love. She wanted to desperately to feel that something that had been forbidden to her for almost all of her life, the warmth and comfort of complete trust in another person.

She had known Draco all of her life and he certainly had been a shining savior from the horrors of being raised by such sadistic and fascist minded parents, he always swooped in to rescue her from the dragons known as the Hausra clan and they allowed him too which in turn set their future together in stone.

She hadn't meant to tether herself to Draco so completely and she couldn't help but fear that he somewhat hated her for it.

She certainly hated him…to some degree.

She watched him quietly trying to find some string of satisfaction in her being that should crop up from the idea that she was to be married to this beautiful man, that he would be forced to protect her.

Forever.

She shook her head and returned her gaze to hands.

She wanted to be in love.

So desperately and so completely in love.

She wanted to raise a happy family like the Weasley's, she wanted her children to never want for warmth of affection, she wanted her children to never even have to imagine being tainted or punished because of the sins of their parents as she had been.

These hands had no power of their own anymore, before that summer she had had dreams of gaining enough magical knowledge to break away from her ancient family, to fend for herself in some wild far away country, to fall in love with a prince or a sheik and live the rest of her days without any worries of the Dark Arts and the saturated racism that twisted it's uses for such evil.

But who would cater to these childish whims? She was born in this, this terribly legacy ran through her veins, this terrible fate was the only one she would know.

Acute apathy overcame her as she picked up the quill and began to scratch away the rest of her essay.

Angelina Hausra was once again disparaged; she looked back up at her future husband and whispered.

"What can I do to escape this?"

She looked out of the window for a moment and gazed at the dark mass known as the black lake her thoughts turning to the would be friend she so terribly coveted.

Hermione Granger seemed to have it all, the freedom to choose which direction she would lead her life, the friends to accompany such a decision when the time came, the warmth of a loving family to love and support her no matter her choice, the intelligence that surpassed some of the greatest students Hogwarts had ever come across and most importantly the blood Angelina Hausra had yearned for, for what seemed an eternity.

No matter how much her Slytherin housemates slandered and insulted muggle borns and no matter how much her family condemned an association with anyone of a lesser blood status, Angelina had always seen the forbidden advantage to being a disgusting mudblood.

"At least they have a choice"

* * *

Hermione Granger threw her head back with a laughing smile, feeling the warmth of a spring sun on her face. Ron, Harry and Ginny surrounded her with smiles and jokes of their own. They were casually situated on a large red blanket underneath one of the many ancient trees that surrounded the black lake and it felt good to be laughing with friend again.

She had been gone for far too long.

Dobby had been kind enough to fill a picnic basket with a variety of Hogwarts cuisine for the picnic today and they all enjoyed the various treats tremendously.

"Do you think she'll go out with me 'Mione?" Ron leaned over to her, blushing a pretty shade of maroon.

"Not if I ask her first, she won't!" Harry teased causing the redhead to turn an even more shocking shade of scarlet.

Hermione regarded them with a puzzled face and before Ginny could stop the oncoming train of disaster she asked.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Why Angelina of course! Bloody hell 'Mione she's been riding our asses as to your whereabouts for a good minute now, not that I'm complaining, any moment with Hausra is like a moment in heaven…"

It stung. It did, and that sting she could not ignore, Draco's fiancé was making herself known in her inner circle of friends and it hurt even more having to think about even acknowledging her existence, but to begin again this was an inevitable obstacle that she had to deal with sooner or later so she put on a brave face and replied.

"To be honest Ron I've only spoken to her once in my life, but if she comes around again I'll ask, but I'm sorry to say my bets are on the Boy Who Lived here"

Ginny choked on the butter beer she was consuming and stared at Hermione like she had grown a pair of horns. Hermione met her gaze and smiled in an attempt to abate the younger girls worries, but Ginny only frowned in response.

She'd obviously lost it; Ginny was about to voice her thoughts on the matter when a twig snapped a little ways off signaling that they were no longer alone.

"Well would you look at this? The Mudblood Gryffindor princess and her little cronies enjoying a nice romantic picnic by the lake, how very picturesque"

Draco had escorted his fiancé back to her dorm room then had made his way down the great lake intending to clear his head of all things Granger but as he had suspected the Gods were never kind to him. The image of her so carefree and happy whilst his mind was storming with desperation and anger only fueled the fire further and he could not diminish the sting of jealousy in his voice as he made his presence known.

He smirked with satisfaction when he noticed her visibly stiffen, knowing that she would be unable to engage him openly just as she had been in the past couple of months.

Something about loving him he recalled smugly.

Potter and the two Weasleys had already stood and prepared themselves for the verbal battle that was about to ensue. The youngest Weasley looked particularly snappish as she glared at him with malice that could match his own.

His eyes darted to his mudblood who had also stood up and was now smoothing down the creases of her skirt.

Trying to seem more presentable his irrationality deduced.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry Potter ground out.

"I'm simply trying to clear the filth that has polluted my favorite resting spot"

Malfoy motioned to the tree behind them.

"You can just sod off and find another tree then can't you?"

They were obviously trying to avoid any conflict in an attempt to protect Granger but Malfoy would have none of it, as she was the reason he was in such a foul mood in the first place.

_I'm going to forget you. _

The words of her letter replayed itself in his mind and his anger multiplied exponentially, he would show her what she was made for, he would put her in her place.

"No Potter, I don't think I can."

He turned his attention back to his mudblood.

"Maybe if the filthy mudblood here had done us all a favor and died as she had intended you wouldn't be inconveniencing me in such a way"

They all flinched at the venom poured out with his words, all but one.

He gazed at her intently looking for any sign of the pain he so loved to inflict on her person, but before he could even blink he found himself on the grass cradling his left cheek, he looked up to his assailant expecting to see either blue or green eyes stare down at him so hungrily with a curse ready on his lips but he was shocked to the very core as his eyes fell on his beloved.

She had hit him.

He looked from the blood on his hand back to his mudblood as an agonizing amount of shock shot through his body.

She spat at him and walked around and past him without a word, the ever jovial Potter and Weasley followed suit laughing enormously at his expense living him behind with a very smug Ginny.

She took care of their belongings with one quick swish of her wand and walked towards him with a satisfied smirk.

She bent down so their faces were level and whispered.

"You will regret this"

She walked on for a moment but after taking a few steps she seemed to change her mind and ran back to his crouched form gave him a swift kick in the shin and ran off laughing like a hyena.

But through all of this Draco Malfoy could only register one thing, all the truth and sincerity he had spent hours gazing at as he looked into her eyes were nowhere to be found when he looked up at her only moments ago and it had been replaced with an emotion so foreign to him that it shook his very core, it had been replaced with disappointment.

Disappointment.

There was a dull ache in his chest as a warm spring breeze whirled all around him, a dull ache that pounded so resolutely as the rest of the world went on without him.

As she went on without him.

He looked up at the bright blue sky with a groan knotted with illogical indecision.

"Please…." He breathed.

He knew all the right words to make her stay, knew all the rights things to say to sew himself to her heart for an eternity, he knew it all because she had told him day in and day out, because she had broken her heart to pieces and given them all to him to examine and put back together, he knew it all because he felt it, he felt it all in the resounding echo of his now empty heart.

"Don't forget me"

* * *

**Authors Note: **So how are all you hardcore Granger stans feeling now? It's been brought to my attention that I make it very hard to hate Draco and that of course was the point. He's as much a victim as Hermione, being forced to live a life that has been planned before him, being forced to harbor so much hatred that is not his own. He has so much responsibility and no one to reward him for his sacrifice. To Draco, Hermione's pain is his prize, his bread and butter ya get me?

Antiwayzz before I elaborate too much be sure to review and give me some feedback!

Thank you for your time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Authors Note: **So much is going on in my head in regards to this story, should I manifest something positive out of this light or follow the script of the relationship all this angst in based on? Should I fulfill my dreams through the story or continue on this twisted path? I dunno, I dunno, bare with me all right? I have M83 blaring pretty loudly right now and I'm feeling amazingly epic.

Thank you for your time.

* * *

She had been such a fool she realized as every single mistake rushed back to haunt her, in the deep dark crevices of her heart she had hoped beyond all measure that he'd stay with her, that'd he'd run to her again and she would hear him whisper her name like they could last forever, she had hoped that his harsh words wouldn't have touched her so, wouldn't have humiliated her so.

She had hoped it had been all an act.

But of all the questions existing in regards to Draco Malfoy there was one she had a concrete answer to.

"_Maybe if the filthy mudblood here had done us all of favor and died as she had intended you wouldn't be inconveniencing me in such a way"_

He tore right though her with those words and before she knew it she had punished him and in those brief moments when his naked grey eyes stared up at her in such anguish she had forgiven him and had never been so disgusted with herself.

Why did her mind and body believe that he would never leave them?

As she walked past his fallen figure regret welled up inside of her being. She could never hate him for long; her heart just wouldn't let go, it was a bloody fool. Despite the truth she knew of the treacherous nature of his being she couldn't seem to let him go, it couldn't seem to let him go, with each acidic word he threw at her, her heart beat even more steadfastly for him and their love, for him and her obsession.

Castles made of sand would always fall into sea eventually.

But this was her greatest architectural achievement yet, and it would be an equally as stunning demolition.

An ancient and tattered book she had swiped from Grimmauld place the previous summer lay in her lap opened to a page she had mused over for most of the night.

Even now, on the eve of his reckoning she felt him, felt his hands trace the outlines of her face and trail down the soft curves of her neck, she could feel his warm kisses on her shoulder and the warm whispers in her ear.

It wasn't real. None of it was real but she felt it and would feel it every night she lay her head to rest. She would feel his arms around her as he filled her so completely with his forbidden nature, his grunts of pleasure as his eyes locked onto her own communicating in a language he would never acknowledge outside of these passionate embraces.

She could still feel his long fingers pulling her hair back trying to maintain some sense of control, she could still feel the silent moment after he moaned out her name during his release, she could still feel him, all over her, inside her, next to her.

And it felt so wrong and so terribly right.

Tears began to fall onto the page that would serve as the ammunition to her weapon of revenge.

All was lost in love not fair, but she still saw him there.

Where was she supposed to begin again? What was she supposed to do when all of this came to an end? When justice had been served? When the truth was in the air? How on earth was she supposed to go on when on the day of his betrayal all she could think about was his hands on her, all she could think about was those moments she knew she had to have imagined.

Did she even want justice? Did she even need it?

She wanted Draco Malfoy. She needed Draco Malfoy.

Why? Another question she would never be able to answer. If she saw him now she would close any distance between them and throw her arms around his neck and kiss him so desperately, so lovingly in hopes that we would fill the emptiness of her being and in hopes that he would alleviate this fear.

She had forced herself into limbo these passing months, refusing to think about his past or her future, refusing to acknowledge the face of time as her heart soared past all the shackles of humanity.

She loved him.

And she always would, no matter what came in her way, no matter what words he threw at her, no matter how many times she thought to kill herself, her heart would rather be faced with the prospect of eternal misery that beat another day without him in it.

But she would go on.

She had too.

Gazing down at the spell in her lap that she had long since memorized she knew what had to be done and no matter how much her heart protested at the prospect of grasping arms and battling with her dearest Malfoy, this was the remedy that would stop it all.

This was the answer to all her questions. She closed the book and placed it beneath her pillow and laid her head down, closed her eyes and listened to the heavy beating of her ever-resilient heart.

She would go on.

She had no other choice.

* * *

Angelina had not said a word to the brooding Slytherin who had entered her chambers not too long ago with a broken demeanor and an equally fractured nose, she had not said a word when he sat on her bed and asked her to heal it as he had always been terrible with healing spells, she had not said a word when he asked why she was not using her wand when she began to clean the blood, and remained just as silent when he began to apologize for his lack of tact while she continued her ministrations without interruptions.

And so they sat in silence.

She turned to look at him for a moment, slightly envious of this deep secret he had been harboring that seemed to expand with each passing moment and wondered if she could ever be as deceptive.

He looked back at her taking in her purity and beauty that contrasted so deeply with her surroundings wondering how such an angel could thrive so soundly in this world. He gazed at her bright, kind and expectant green eyes as all his troubles threatened to spill.

"Lina…"

His voice broke over her childhood nickname and before he knew it he was on his knees crying so soundly into her lap. Angelina stared down at the splintered human being before her and her heart immediately shattered for her friend.

"Oh Draco"

She whispered as her hands ran soothingly through his hair, there were very few moments Draco leaned onto her for protection, moments in time that had been spaced by years on end, but whenever he did she made sure she filled the position his parents and elders had never been able to.

And so he sobbed without a word, not ready to face the inevitability of it all, not ready to face the end of his freedom, he sat comforted by his fellow prisoner who was just as shackled in the tomb of expectations forced on them by the breed of their blood.

He grasped her hands to his mouth in prayer.

" I do not want to die like this Lina, I do not want to die so…so…"

"Empty?"

He looked up at her green eyes once more and only saw a reflection of his own anguish, the reflection a caged animal. She was smiling but the mirth did not seem to touch her eyes, it was a smile he had seen a thousand times, a smile she had worn for years now, a smile amazingly bereft of all things amiable, a smile he could not have recognized until this passing moment.

He kissed her hands in repentance, never breaking his gaze with those merciful orbs.

"We're quite the pair wouldn't you say?" She asked, the haunting smile never leaving her visage.

He embraced her in his arms and held her tightly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Lina"

He sobbed into her shoulder.

"And I'm sorry you had to Draco"

She whispered back.

And they were once again doused in silence.

Because words where no longer needed.

* * *

The sunlight blared quite ungracefully into Angelina's private chambers and onto Draco Malfoy's face, they had both fallen asleep fully clothed he noted not at all shy about the close proximity of their bodies. He would never see her in that light, he could never see her as such.

She was not Hermione Granger.

But she was what he would spend the rest of his days with.

"I love her Lina"

She stirred at this declaration her eyes wide with disbelief.

"I am in love Lina and I will always be"

He saw something in her eyes that he had never seen before when he uttered his second belief, envy.

"And I hate myself for it"

Followed by a large dose of pity. She brought her small hand up to his face in an attempt to comfort him and he brought his own hand and placed it on top of hers, their understanding of each other knowing no bounds.

They were both trapped in this web and neither knew how to get out, neither knew how to break free. They were together in this and they were all they had left.

But they both knew it would never be enough.

* * *

"_Sentio gelu insquequo vestri visio est quicumque ostendo, expedio of vestri penitus can melior quisquam vos reperio"_

She was not used to such excessive wording to cast a spell and did not know if she would be able to get all the pronunciations right. She knew that this was ancient magic, magic she would never fully understand but at this moment her thirst for freedom and the satisfaction casting this spell promised were far too great a gift for her to ignore.

But she did not know if she could go through with this. It was just a little after dawn and she was already dressed in her uniform, it was to be a first school day since the jump and having spent the better part of the day before trying to catch up with the work she missed she felt adequately prepared for the day ahead.

She stared at the parchment in her hands as hesitation took over her being, for she knew that with these poetic words she would know the truth and her heart would learn to heal itself again, everyone would know the truth, everyone would see what a beautiful sniveling coward Draco Malfoy was.

Everyone would know what the detestable little worm had been doing with his nights, what the disgraceful bastard found entertaining, what her handsome perfection had loved.

He would feel her torture.

She read the Latin over and over again.

He would feel the weight of world crushing down around him and he would feel the peaceful calm of that final leap towards the afterlife.

And he would know her love.

* * *

He had not accompanied Angelina to the Great Hall for breakfast and took the little time he had to wander around the castle grounds, trying in earnest to ignore the subtle winds of change that blew wild and free around him, trying in earnest to ignore the uneasy feeling in his core.

Without knowing it his feet led him up to the astronomy tower, to the room that had started all this anxiety in his life.

If he could only hold her and pretend as if none of this had happened, as if none of his words mattered and as if he wasn't born a Malfoy.

Of all the places she expected to find him today this had not been on her list. Hermione Granger stood behind the stoic Slytherin struck by a moment of ambiguous insanity. This was it, this was her chance to settle the score, to cast this spell undetected and move on with her life.

This was her moment.

Tears clouded her vision as the enormity of the crime she was about to commit assaulted her; she raised her wand and whispered the words she hoped would change her life for the better.

_It could've been so simple._

"Sentio gelu insquequo vestri visio est quicumque ostendo, expedio of vestri penitus can melior quisquam vos reperio"

Draco felt the air around him change drastically as the breath he intended to intake was expelled quite suddenly from his body, he stumbled around the room in panic, something was in his mind rearranging his thoughts, his very being, something was inside him violating his spirit, he gripped on the stone cold wall and saw the movement of a cloak disappear down the stair case. Someone had cursed him while he had his back turned.

He wondered wildly if this was how his Angelina felt when she had been attacked so soundlessly, he wondered if she had been so deserving of such a fate. He fell to his knees in a crippled groan of pain and clutched his head in torment but it soon overcame him and as he fell he had only one name on his lips.

"Hermione"

But she did not hear him as she dashed down the stairs and into the corridors. Her mind worked at a furious speed as her feet took her as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.

She had stripped him of his deceit, she had rid him of his deception and his ability to ensnare her with his web of lies and tricks.

She had performed an illegal spell.

But it would be worth it.

His entire life had been based on teachings and belief of another, his entire life had worked around everyone's else's words but his own and he hid his true self behind his racist bigotry and blood laden sectarianism, and she had imagined that she had seen his truth, in all that passion and fervency of his fabricated need for her and that was what had trapped her so effectively, the need to set him free from all the tainted rubbish of his world.

And now she would see the real Draco Malfoy.

The world would see the real Draco Malfoy.

Her heart would see the real Draco Malfoy.

"You will no longer doubt my words," She whispered as she crouched over to catch her breath her hands clutching the front of her robes in desperation as if trying to communicate with the beating muscle in her chest.

"Forgive me."

* * *

"Poppy!"

Dumbledore bustled into the infirmary with an air of desperation ill befitting of the headmaster; Snape trailed behind him the body of a fully-grown teenage boy in his arms. Madame Pomfrey rushed to greet him at the urgency of his call.

"Draco Malfoy was found in the astronomy tower in a condition that neither I or Severus can seem to rouse him from"

Snape placed the boy carefully onto one of the clinic beds, Draco was sweating profusely and mumbled incoherently statements towards housemaster, Madame Pomfrey flittered around the boy clearly intent on doing her job. Dumbledore stood a little ways away from the bed as a solemn air encased him, this was elder magic he was sure of it, the boys aura was not natural and he spoke the tongue of an ancient language. Had the Hausra enemy made a visit to Hogwarts?

As Madame Pomfrey made her rounds around the bed trying to suss out any obvious magical ailments that could be contributing to his condition, Dumbledore's profile grew darker with his thoughts. Snape stared hard at the headmaster who in that moment seemed to share his thoughts.

They both knew no matter how many spells Poppy performed on the boy he would not awaken until the spell was complete.

"Is it as you feared Albus?" Snape questioned.

"Yes Severus, our assailant has cast the Verus Penitus on our Mr. Malfoy and he shall not wake until the morn, be sure to notify the elder Mr. Malfoy of his heirs affliction it would do no good to keep him in the dark"

"Verus Penitus?"

Madame Pomfrey squeaked her eyes wide in amazement.

"You brought him up to my infirmary had me in a complete tussy over the bloody a Verus Penitus charm?"

She screamed. She had had enough of the whimsical fairyland Albus Dumbledore lived and had enough of it spilling over to her own logical side of the planet.

"Verus Penitus curse my dear Poppy, Verus Penitus curse"

"I don't bloody care if it's a curse of a charm Albus, a bloody spell to force the truth does not WARRANT A HOSPITAL BED ABLUS!!!"

"Oh but my dear woman, it's not just the truth it's the deepest desires of the human heart and if I remember correctly it is also dark magic and also illegal"

He smiled at her trying to appease her anger not realizing that the whimsical twinkle in his eyes only infuriated her more.

"And what harm will that do to a brat who makes his needs known day in and day out? Now don't you dare even think to bring another student in here unless they're bleeding to death and have some broken bloody bones do you hear me Albus?"

"Yes Poppy."

"I want no more talk of emotional damage, or psychological trials do you understand me? If they're not bleeding internally I have no interest Albus Dumbledore"

"Understood my old friend" He smiled more amiably this time and she regarded him rather sheepishly and turned back to her patient.

"But he can remain here until he wakes if need be Headmaster"

He smiled more broadly at this, taking great lengths to not appear too smug in the face of this boisterous little woman and replied.

"Of course Poppy, do what you feel is best"

* * *

It was all sort of anticlimactic really. She had gone the entire day without so much of a hiccup about her misdeeds in the morning; she had gone the entire day without so much as a glimpse of Draco Malfoy.

Not that she had expected to see him. She was well aware that the spell took a full day to complete the work of severing deception from the human brain but still as she sat in the Great Hall and ate her evening meal it all felt a tad bit bathetic.

Ron nudged her quiet roughly and her concentration faltered enough to recognize the woman that stood before her. Her throat threatened to close itself as her breathing slowed tremendously.

"Hermione!!!"

Angelina squealed and enclosed the stiff girl in her arms.

"I'm so glad you're alright"

She whispered into her ear and honestly seemed to mean it. Angelina had been having a terrible day, her body guard had somehow managed to land himself in the infirmary leaving her to peril and danger that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and so seeing the Gryffindor muggle born brought a small amount of light into her otherwise disastrously dark day.

Hermione Granger tentatively patted the beautiful girl on the back wishing to be released from the cushy confines of her arms, as Angelina pulled back Hermione could've sworn she saw tears sparkle in those big green eyes.

"Will you please help me study tonight Hermione? Draco is in the infirmary and I'm at my wits end."

There was an obvious hint of distress in the elder girls voice and before Hermione could stop herself she found herself saying yes to the girls request, instead of squealing once more and throwing herself back into Hermione's arms as she had done earlier Angelina held her hand for a moment something unreadable shone through her eyes.

"Thank you"

She murmured, threw quick smiles to Ron, Harry and Ginny and fled the Great Hall. Hermione sat back down in shock.

What on earth just happened?

"Poor thing has the world on her shoulders"

Ron stated before he shoved more food into his mouth, Hermione looked at him for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

Ginny looked at her and sighed, it was certainly was impossible to hate Angelina Hausra.

"She was cursed over the summer and is basically a squib because of it, her family is mad with grief, they've all been acting like the girl is dead and the ministry is beside itself with the idea that there's a curse out there undocumented"

For the second time in Hermione Granger's life, she felt herself drowning with no water present.


	14. Chapter 14

**Authors Note: **I haven't really been able to stop writing for fear that if I take a break I won't come back to this, so as always thank you for your time and please for fucks sake fucking review.

Griffen

P.S - I've changed the title, when I first wrote this it had been on a whim and I was listening to Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor" but now it doesn't seem poetic enough for this piece of angst so I've changed it to Via Dolorosa.

* * *

Hermione made her way to the library where she was supposed to meet Angelina for an evening tutoring session, she had agreed to the stint against her better judgment but her decision had been cemented when she was informed of the beautiful girls trouble.

Hermione felt the lick shame as she remembered all the foul thoughts she harbored in her hearts in regards to the elder Slytherin.

She had been so singularly selfish and so utterly blind in her desperation and now felt the need to make things right with the cursed girl, to make things right within herself.

"Angelina?"

Angelina looked up with a start and quickly smiled at the younger Gryffindor.

"Oh thank god you're here Hermione"

She practically wailed, Hermione smiled in response and took the seat adjacent to Angelina.

"He wants us to write a foot and a half on the properties and uses of the Hypericum perforatum herb and I have no idea where to begin"

Hermione placed a soothing hand on Angelina's shoulder, shrugging off the alarms that where going off in her head at the idea of bringing herself closer to the reason she had been desperate enough to jump out of that window and replied.

"Don't worry Angelina"

Offering an amiable smile she added.

"I'm here to help"

* * *

Angelina and Hermione stood in front of the library doors in animated conversation, it was 10 minutes to midnight and to the school wide curfew but neither of these facts seemed to bother the pair.

As she laughed and conversed with the 7th year Hermione couldn't help but feel incredibly ashamed of herself, she had been so wrong to judge this girl on the whims of her heart, so wrong to hate her for a situation that was clearly out of her hands.

Angelina Hausra was absolutely lovely and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't possibly detest her.

But her wounds were still fresh, and as she engaged in a genial conversation with the girl she was constantly reminded of why she had not been good enough for Draco and why this girl was better than her.

Her better by birth.

As their conversation wound down and their parting words began she noticed Angelina's pleasant nature withdraw slightly with the realization that she would be alone soon and Granger heart immediately went out to her.

"Would you like me to walk you down to the dungeons?"

She could certainly hold her own through the dark corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was infinitely more powerful a witch than Angelina had been even when she had her magical capability and all of a sudden felt the fierce need to protect her new friend.

She just simply couldn't hate her.

Angelina visibly brightened at her offer and latched onto her arm with such fervor it only reaffirmed Hermione's determination.

After all she had incapacitated Angelina's chosen body guard for the day so it was only fair that she took up the role in the meantime, she didn't need any casualties of war on her conscious.

They glided down the corridors, delving deeper and deeper into Hogwarts towards the Slytherin common room, there was an echo of laughter in the dark of the hallway and the hairs on the back of Hermione's neck stood.

She knew Angelina felt it too as the talkative blonde fell silent.

A group of Slytherin's rounded the corner in front of them and halted their procession as their eyes fell on the pair.

Hermione, ever the mother goose, pushed Angelina behind her protectively.

"Take a good look at this boys, the rise and fall of the famed Hausra clan, the abomination of the wizarding world has sullied herself with the likes of the reigning mudblood bitch"

Theodore Nott took a menacing step towards them with a quite maniacal look in his eyes.

"Let us pass Nott"

Hermione bit out, there war far too many of them to fend off without raising some sort of an alarm.

Not clucked his tongue and chuckled at her request.

"I think not mudblood, my boys and I are looking to have some fun tonight"

Angelina whimpered at this statement as the fear for her new friend gripped her.

"Well you can look elsewhere!" She retorted, wielding her wand so tightly her knuckles were turning white. She was more than capable to shoot a few spells in succession that would knock out at least 4 of them, but she knew that even if she succeeded in this feat the other three would have already gotten to her. She could feel Angelina shaking behind her and almost snarled as Nott took another step closer.

"You know Granger" he whispered. "You're not so bad looking for a filthy muggle born bitch"

"Stupefy!" She screeched throwing caution to the wind as she sent the spell straight into Nott's face, she pushed Angelina from her beseeching her to run for help as Nott's companions began to shoot hexes of their own in her direction. She dodged a sloppy disarming spell as she shot one of her own towards the assailant and another stupefy at the other.

"Locomotor Mortis!" She bellowed at another but did not have time to smirk in satisfaction when the spell hit the boy straight in the chest as she was thrown back into an adjacent column.

The only two Slytherin left standing peered down at her in satisfaction as blood began to pool around the fallen girl. The looked up at each other and turned to leave, disregarding their fallen comrades with an air of achievement.

"All in a days work wouldn't you say?"

Their laughter could be heard all the way down corridor and as they disappeared from sight.

Angelina ran as fast as she could towards the nearest teachers quarters, surely someone had heard her screams for help by now? She continued to run blindly her tears hindering her eyes sight so she could not see the solid mass of a tall dark boy in her path before it was too late.

Blaise was, to be quite honest, lost, he had only started attending this blasted school for a month and was no closer to learning the inner passage ways and dark corridors of the large castle as he had been wandering the hallways for at least an hour trying to find a way to back his designated house dorm. He ran a hand through his dark curls and sighed in frustration. His ears perked when he heard rapid footsteps coming his way, and he smiled at that knowledge that he would soon be saved.

A blonde girl turned the corner; he was about to call out to her when he noticed she was crying, and quite desperately at that. Before he knew it she had collided into to him and they fell onto the hard cold stone floor with apparent discomfort.

"Oh il dolore" He groaned and looked up at the girl who now stared at him like he was a gift sent from the gods.

"Oh thank Merlin! My friend! We were attacked in the corridor, there were so many of them, and I can't use my wand and I'm not sure if she's hurt and you have to help, it's my fault, it's all my fault please you have to help!"

She rushed out clearly panicking even more as the situation played itself over in his mind. He could not understand her fluid English very well but the snippets he caught were enough to spur him into action.

"An injured friend of yours yes?" He stood quickly and pulled out his wand and took off after her back to Hermione.

The scene that came upon him took his breath away completely, there were a few students jinxed in all manners and forms surrounding a small woman with wild curled hair who was now completely saturated in blood. He deduced that this was the friend in need of help as the blonde rushed to her side and began to screech in agony. He counted the fallen soldiers who must've been her attackers.

Four to one, there was no honor in an unfair battle.

Whoever this witch was she must've been excessively skilled.

"Mobilicorpus" He flickered his wand and the small woman's body was levitated with ease, he looked down to the weeping girl with question.

"Signora I do not know the way to the clinic"

She nodded in haste and once again led him in the opposite direction from whence they came.

He hoped, that who ever this girl was would survive this night and whispered a small prayer to her benefit as he rushed her body to the infirmary.

She seemed far too brave and was far too beautiful to die in such a way.

"La madre Maria ha pietà."

* * *

**Authors Note: **In case you haven't notice I love me some tall dark and Italian Blaise Zabini and I don't care what anybody says to me, Blaise Zabini is an olive skinned Mediterranean god who has a limited knowledge of the English language and suffers from the condition known as 'Jungle Fever'. Okay? Ok.

Now before you all get ahead of yourselves, it's not what you think in regards to Blaise cropping up.

Now run off and review k thanks.


	15. Chapter 15

"MADAME POMFREY!!!"

Angelina Hausra darted into the hospital ward in full hysteria.

"MADAME POMFREY!!!"

She bellowed once more, she had not felt such a rush of emotion since the morning she realized her powers had been taken and she had never in her life felt so ridiculously guilty. If they had only left a few hours earlier, if she hadn't insisted on keeping the Gryffindor so long in her zeal to make a new friend and if she hadn't have been so selfish in her need for protection she would be in Hermione's place right now.

She deserved to be in Hermione's place.

Madame Pomfrey rushed out of her chambers hastily pulling an apron over her nightgown as she took over the spell that kept Hermione levitated and directed her unconscious body to the bed next to the now rousing Malfoy.

"What happened Miss. Hausra?"

But seeing Hermione covered in such a large amount of blood had driven Angelina to the brink of delirium and she could no longer form coherent sentences, Blaise took a step forward and attempted to answer the nurses inquiry.

"It would seem she was attacked from behind and had been thrown against a wall"

His Italian accent was quite thick but he was sure he had correctly said what he meant to convey. Madam Pomfrey nodded quite militantly and blatantly disregarded their presence as she busied herself with the injured 6th year.

"What is going on?"

A blonde boy who looked to be about his age had sat up in the cot next to the new patient and was staring at the her with an unreadable gaze.

"Go back to sleep Mr. Malfoy!"

The elderly woman snapped at the waste of her time that had presented himself earlier on that morning. Angelina had rushed to his side and was now weeping onto his shoulder mumbling incomprehensible declarations of remorse to no one in particular.

"You!"

Madame Pomfrey rounded on Blaise so swiftly that he brought up his wand in defense. She ignored his actions, glared at him and continued.

"Stay with Miss. Granger while I inform the headmaster of this incident!"

He nodded quickly and moved to take her place beside Hermione's bed. He gazed down at the girl who looked quite different now that all the blood had been cleared off of her body and the gaping wound on the side of her head had been attended to. He glanced up at the girl that had led him to this and asked.

"Do you know of the attackers?"

Angelina, whose wails had now been transformed to soft whimpers in fear that she would wake her dear friend she unintentionally brought so much trouble too, nodded a yes and said.

"They are in my house"

He scowled at this.

"And which house is this?"

"Slytherin"

He let out a string of curses in Italian unable to contain his anger at the thought of being grouped with such a disgraceful and tainted company. He looked back up the blonde duo who seemed to know each other quite intimately by the way they held onto to one another in light of this tragedy.

"I am Blaise Zabini"

He offered, realizing that he had seen their faces in that wretched common room on many occasions.

"My name is Angelina Hausra" she replied.

The girl, he had been told, was one of a cursed nature, and had been punished for the deeds of her father before her, yes the school had been abuzz with news of her downfall and the insect that was gossip had even made its way into Blaise's indifferent ears. He pitied her for a moment, now understanding her frenzy when they had been attacked.

She could not defend herself or protect her friend and all responsibility had fallen onto the injured girl sleeping so soundly in the bed beside him. He had hoped that he would have found his way back to his chamber, along with a pretty English girl to warm his bed that night but found this strange turn of events to be far more interesting. He felt no need to make a show of introducing himself to the boy, for the Malfoy clan was quite familiar to him.

As was their dishonor.

"The perpetrators of this crime have been caught Poppy, it appears as though Miss. Granger did a number on quite a few of them before she was taken down"

The familiar figure of the headmaster walked through the tall infirmary doors with a congenial air about his person, he did not seem the least bit worried for the girl who had, only moments before, been quite close to death, as he regarded all the inhabitants of the ward.

"Ah, Mr. Zabini you have done a great service to this student tonight"

He strode forward and clasped the younger wizard's hand his own.

"I would not say as much Signore, I was simply…how do you say?" He struggled for the right wording but the headmaster quickly came to his rescue.

"At the right place at the rime time?"

Dumbledore proposed, smiling quite warmly at his newest student. He had been in association with the Zabini's for years now and knew no family of their equal. They were as principled as they were loyal and most importantly they were neutral and it would appear that the apple had not fallen far from the tree in regards to their youngest of kin.

"And Miss. Angelina you will be glad to know that we found the assailants quite quickly seeing as though Hermione had managed to knock a few of them out before she was herself incapacitated, so now I ask you to adhere to the school curfew and not wander the corridors at night, after all your position is a quite delicate one."

She nodded quite deftly and he turned his attention to the younger Slytherin who was cradling the mewling Angelina in his arms. He paused for a moment in deep thought as his magically trained eyes scrutinized the boy quite discernibly. He seemed to have a few words to pass on but had since thought better of it and turned his back to the pair and now looked over the fallen Granger.

"It is late"

He murmured and looked back up at the handsome Italian boy.

"You would do well to return to your chambers"

It was as much of a suggestion as it seemed to be a command and with one last withering look down to the girl on the bed Blaise Zabini nodded and turned on his heel.

"Goodnight Professor"

Angelina mumbled, kissed her friend on the cheek and followed suit, leaving Dumbledore with the hospitalized pair. He stayed for a moment then gathered his robes to take his leave and enjoy the comforts of his own bed that night, but before he exited the infirmary he turned and sent a piercing gaze to the youngest Malfoy.

"You will regret this"

And with those parting words he disappeared behind the tall doors, leaving Draco Malfoy with the source of his forbidden obsession.

A strange sense of dejavu overcame him as he crossed the distance between them. He sat by her side as he felt the words he knew she desperately coveted bubble up inside of him but he fought them down with all his strength, strength he realized was waning tremendously by the second. He threw himself on the floor when he felt that pain again, felt someone in his mind reorganizing all his thoughts and stripping bare all his dreams, his deepest and darkest desires played themselves over and over again before him with lightning speed and his body convulsed as the invasion took him completely.

He felt the fabric of his character unravel itself completely as every single defining moment in Draco Malfoy's life was thrown out into the air, as every single moment a thought or believe other than his very own was disintegrated and as he writhed in pain on the floor he suddenly felt thoroughly naked.

"Mr. Malfoy!"

Madame Pomfrey rushed to his side and muttered a spell to keep him still, his whole body went rigid but he still felt the pain of the attacking seizure and felt as though he eyes were about to pop out of his head.

"Keep calm Mr. Malfoy, it'll be over soon"

She could do nothing more for the boy but ensure he did not harm himself as the spell finished it's work, she had never seen or heard of such an adverse reaction to the curse and couldn't help the gleam of curiosity in her eyes.

He shut his eyes in agony and let out a howl when he felt something enter the beating muscle in his chest.

"What is this?"

He bit out, looking to place a name to the face of this pain.

"The Verus Penitus Charm Mr. Malfoy and it would appear that it is almost complete in it's intent"

She smiled sadly down onto the boy, curiosity laced with pity painted onto her face. With a biting stab to his head he was released from the assault and now lay on the floor flaccid and breathing heavily. Madame Pomfrey offered him her shoulder as she pulled him up back onto the bed and he did not have the energy to protest as she pulled a blanket over his body and turned off the lamp on the bedside table.

With what energy he had left he redirected his gaze to the peaceful Gryffindor not 5ft from him and smiled wistfully as a fistful of memories coaxed him to slumber.

* * *

"Thank you for your help"

When Dumbledore dismissed Blaise Zabini he had wandered down the hallway realizing that he was right back where he started, utterly and completely lost. But before he could turn back the blonde he had just been acquainted with came up behind him and offered a small smile, as if she had been aware of his predicament and so he followed her without and word and finally took the time to study the girl in front of him.

"It was of no inconvenience Signora"

She did not look up at him and continued wordlessly towards the Dungeon. She was still crying he noticed, as he watched her face and now her cheeks held a pretty rose colored stain that did not fade until they reached their destination. She muttered the password and stepped into the common room, turned back to look at Blaise and took her leave down the stairs to her private chambers.

He stood for a moment, staring at the spot she had just vacated before shaking his head and walking to his own chambers. He shut the door behind him quietly as he began to disrobe.

Something was wrong with that girl and he couldn't quite place a finger on it.

But then again something was wrong with all the British girls he had come across so far he decided and threw himself onto his bed with a groan.

Specifically the ones he shared a house with. When he had first come to Slytherin and that dastardly hat had been placed on his head, it had said in no certain terms that he wouldn't fit anywhere else, but now after having witnessed a full month of disgraceful behavior and xenophobic bigotry he couldn't help but feel the hat was in dire need of replacing.

They were purebloods to be sure, and most had a surname that frequented the pages of Britain's Daily Prophet but that was where the similarity ended.

They had no honor, no ethics and absolutely skewed ideals in regards to the Wizarding world they lived him. He and his mother had left the country during the rise of the Dark Lord seeing no need to surround the family with such extreme fascism and he had been protected from being recruited as a Death Eater.

He had been protected from a dishonorable death.

And after the demise they had returned to grace the halls of all the society galas and surround themselves with respectable company once more. But even with the death of the most evil Wizard in Britain's history, the ignorance had remained and now Blaise found himself practically up to his nose in it.

Their illiteracy in the ways of life infuriated him.

How could such ancient clans harbor such filth in their hearts?

And how could such filth think Blaise Zabini to be their equal?

Out of all the things he had heard about the Hausra's he had assumed that Angelina would be a carbon copy presentation of the idiocy that preceded her, but she seemed to be quite the opposite.

He knew the girl he had carried to the infirmary to be a muggle born, he had heard the slander about Hermione Granger for many months now, it would seem that this muggle born had single handedly earned a very specific breed of hatred amongst higher circles as she had fought alongside the victor of the dark war and had defeated many of the Slytherin's Death Eater parents.

So to see a Hausra care so deeply for her was incredibly confusing. What was the word his housemates spat at her kind?

Oh yes, Blood traitor.

"Traditore di sangue"

He mulled over the words in his native language trying to understand the mechanics of it all. She had placed herself in an extreme amount of danger but he couldn't understand way. He knew the Hausra's were of a purity unknown to most of the Wizarding world and he knew this was a very sore topic for the rest of the various clans and family's that graced society's pages and so he knew that she was in danger to begin with, and now she was a squib which only added onto the list of enemies that she already had, and now she had befriended a muggle born, and not just any muggle born.

The muggle born that had turned the Ministry on the ancient pureblood families. The muggle born that helped in the passing of Lord Voldemort.

"Ma perché?"

But why?

Something was certainly wrong with the British.

* * *

Angelina stood in the middle of her room with her face in her hands trying to diminish the amount of blood that was rushing into her cheeks.

He was bloody gorgeous! And had come to save the day so swiftly and so gallantly she couldn't even begin to wrap her head around the possibilities.

She had heard that the Zabini's were back, but in between the curse and her trouble with Draco she had not had the time to introduce herself as society demanded to the Zabini heir and now she had, and he had fallen into her path so gracefully and so decently it took her breathe away.

When they had walked back to the common room she had been painfully aware of his stoic presence behind her and had to build up the courage to thank him for his selfless assistant.

He was just so beautiful.

She sat down on her bed with a sigh, remembering those dark eyes and luscious curls and the way he looked at her, the way he stared at her very soul with that searching gaze. He was fucking beautiful.

But he was a Zabini.

She looked up at her ceiling with forbearance.

She knew a great deal about the Zabini's, specifically a great deal about his mother, 7 husbands, all dead and all of them had penned her in their respective wills but no one could point the finger at Miss. Zabini because she had been sitting pretty on the Zabini family vault for years.

The Zabini clan had had singularly good luck in regards to the male line of their family, each generation had never been without a male successor to carry on the name and it seemed as though with this abundance of testosterone their name would never die out.

She also knew that the Zabini's knew no alleys and no enemies and remained shockingly neutral during the great wars, and all other battles before that, they had thrived on their self-sufficiency and rarely ever graced the homes of another pureblood family unless it was to attend a formal function.

Her father had referred to them, as 'the bastard gypsies' for years now and never held back whilst expressing his disdain for the successful lineage, disdain saturated so deeply in envy it was quite ridiculous.

So she knew a great deal about the Zabini kinfolk, their workings and acquaintances but she had never imagined in a hundred years that the youngest Zabini heir would be so absurdly beautiful.

She squealed in delight as she remembered his heavy Italian accent trying to grasp the right words to say to her and wondered if he made love in Italian, wondered if he would whisk her away and into the world of the free Zabini's and into a world of all that exotic beauty. She began to take off her robes and imagined he was doing it for her while whispering praises in his native tongue as he disrobed her completely. She shimmied into her nightgown and climbed into her bed, still day dreaming of her knight in shining armor who now had a name.

But then the reality of it all came crashing down around her, she was a still a Hausra, she was still a Slytherin, she was still a squib and she was still engaged to Draco Malfoy.

With a sigh she threw her head back onto her pillow.

He hadn't even blinked twice at her.

"And he probably never will"


	16. Chapter 16

The left side of Hermione's had ached with a dull pain as she flirted with the beginning of consciousness. Opening her eyes she realized she was once again in an infirmary cot and it was now Tuesday morning. Memories of the night before came back to her in a rush and she smiled quite proud of herself for doing so much damage to those Slytherin cowards.

She sat up with a yawn, stretching her arms over her head and realized that it was a little after dawn. She cracked her neck surreptitiously and idly wondered if Angelina was all right. She saw something move slowly out of the corner of her eye and froze almost as soon as she laid eyes on the sleeping form of Draco Malfoy.

He looked as innocent as the dawn and seeing him in such a light caused a slight flutter in the pit of her stomach. There was nothing she wouldn't give to have him look like this forever. Gazing at him as such he certainly didn't resemble the racist pureblood who stormed the halls of their school day in and day out, he certainly didn't resemble the confused youth who manipulated her feelings and emotions to better suit his fancy. As the faint beginning of light filtered through the glass of the window and illuminated the room, Draco Malfoy had never looked so innocuous.

She had tried so hard to stay away from him, she had tried so hard to save her heart this agony, she had tried so hard to not be such a victim and she had failed in all these endeavors.

He had been privy to the very best of her.

But she couldn't blame him, even now; after all had been said and done she couldn't bring herself to hate him. It was not his fault she had fallen so deeply in love with him, he had taken no part in building her false hopes and dangerous affection and he knew it was wrong he made sure to remind her every night she found herself in his bed.

Overwrought regret began to pile up inside of her. She had had no right to curse him; she had had no right to punish him because the path her beating vessel had chosen had nothing to do with him.

None of this was his fault.

And it never would be.

But she had already punished him and could take nothing back. She would take nothing back. She stood up in silence and knelt beside his bed holding his hands in her own.

She would never forget him, she could never forget him, and in that instant she saw the rest of her days and nights laced with the undying image of her very first love, memories of their encounters that would be forever engraved in her psyche.

* * *

_It was their second night together and the awkwardness of the situation had not abated yet. Draco had thrown all the clothes she had peeled off his body and climbed back into bed with her fully clothed._

_He was shivering. _

_She had noticed when he snuck her into the Slytherin dorms that he had been sniffling quietly and sneezed here and there and she thought he was simply having an allergic reaction to something in the air, but now she could see that he was clearly sick. _

"_Are you alright?"_

_He laughed at her question as he wrapped a deep green blanket tightly around his torso and retorted. _

"_Does it look like I'm alright Granger?"_

_Without a word she enveloped him in the warmth of her arms and began to rub his body in an attempt to create some body heat. _

"_What are you doing?"_

_He flinched at the nonconsensual contact, still not used to her presence around him. She looked up at him with a smile and said. _

"_I'm taking care of you"_

_His eyes locked onto her own in shocked understanding and he allowed himself to be warmed by her touch. They lay as such for a few more minutes before she drifted off into a comfortable slumber. He looked down at the head of unruly hair on his chest, completely stunned by her kind actions and whispered. _

"_Little red riding hood taking care of the big bad wolf"_

_

* * *

_

"Hermione?"

He was awake and was staring at her with such singular intensity she felt as though she'd been caught in the act of committing some heinous crime.

"What are you doing?"

He asked with shaking uncertainty and she thought for moment that maybe he imagined he was dreaming.

"I'm taking care of you"

She closed the distance between them and captured his lips with her own, allowing herself one last moment of unadulterated pleasure before the rest of the world woke up. She knew that experiencing this stolen kiss went against everything she had been working so hard for, she knew that when he finally pushed her away she would not be able to fully recover for years to come, she knew all of this, but she didn't care.

Because it was worth it.

And so she waited for it to all explode in her face and as the kiss deepened and she found herself beneath him on his bed, his hands ravaging her body like a starved prisoner, the agony of what was to come ate away at her and could not help but shed tears.

He stopped and drew back and stared at her in wonder. Before he could control his actions for the first time in Draco Malfoy's life, he acted on his instincts and wiped the fallen tears off of her cheek. She closed her eyes in preparation for the oncoming humiliation and gasped in shock when she felt a soft peck on the corner of her right eye, and another on the corner of her left.

He could not control himself, he could not control his hands, it was as though someone else had inhabited his body and Draco Malfoy watched in horror as he played his affections so openly and clearly for his mudblood. He wanted to scream, he wanted to fight but he was stuck inside this damn body that refused to do his will, that refused to hide his ardor for the muggle born.

And Granger wasn't helping his cause, she looked so damn beautiful and frail beneath him, he had never seen her so vulnerable and he couldn't help but attempt to comfort her because he knew he was the reason behind her torment just as she was the reason behind his.

"Little red riding hood taking care of the big bad wolf"

He whispered against her lips, relishing the feel of her hands intertwined in his own and the soft curves of her body beneath him. Draco Malfoy was stuck inside a body and forced to watch as another enjoyed the feel of his muggle born, but it did not feel as foreign as he thought it should because he knew that the invader was a form of him.

It was his instinct.

Granger was crying in earnest now and sobs shook her body as he buried his head in the crook of her neck, taking in her wondrous scent. He loved her, and he couldn't help it.

"What are you doing?"

She demanded now scared witless by his compassionate actions and he lifted his head, gazed at the lines of her face and answered.

"I'm taking care of you"

It was with those words her heart betrayed her and she was sure it had stopped beating entirely and for the third time in Hermione Granger's life she found herself drowning without a single drop of water to aid in her demise.

* * *

"_Don't you see it Draco?"_

_She was crying again, and had been more often than not their last few encounters, it ripped him apart to see her so depressed but he made no move to comfort her and instead stood his ground against her tears. _

"_See what Granger?"_

_He snarled back. She flinched at the use of her surname but continued on anyway. _

"_My heart! It's been here for years, waiting for you to notice me, waiting for you love me. What am I supposed to do to make you want me properly? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?"_

_It was in the middle of winter and they stood on the outskirts of the Shrieking Shack, the harsh winds of the season swirled around them and the cold bit his naked hands._

"_I don't have time for your melodramatics Granger, this is what you fell in love with, this is what you wanted!" _

_She cried even harder and shook her head fervently. _

"_No, you're wrong Draco, when we're out in the open like this you hide from me, you shun me, but when…when…"_

_She began to stutter, trying to find the right words to say to keep him talking to her. _

"_Well what would you have me do? Trapeze around the school with a mudblood on my arm? You're not exactly something I can or would even want to bring home to my parents." _

_His gaze was hard and his words stripped her bare. She felt as though he had just slapped her and he spat at her in disgust. _

"_I don't know why you always feign surprise when you hear the truth. Whatever illusion you've created in regards to your relation with me needs to be shattered." _

_He walked past her without even sparing her a glance and in the passing moment added. _

"_I'm not your knight in shining armor so save yourself from the bloody dragon"_

_And he was gone. _

_He walked as fast as he could, trying to put as much distance between Hermione and himself as possible lest he change his mind and run back. He had been irrational, he had been excessive and he had been unfair. _

_But what else was he supposed to do? _

_Everything he said had been true, they could never last, and they weren't possibly meant to be. So to spare himself the pain of dreams ripped from the seams he continuously tried to sever herself emotionally from him. _

_To throw her away before he ruined her. _

_But as the picture of her standing there by herself crying for no one to hear lodged itself in his mind, his resolve faltered and his heart skipped a beat. _

_She was nothing to him._

_Nothing but the entire world._

_

* * *

_

To say Ginny Weasley was worried an incredible understatement.

She had woken up that morning and bounded over to Hermione's cot prepared to wake the girl from whatever lovely dream she was having and start her day but she had found Hermione's bed to be empty and felt as though someone had just poured a bucked of ice down her shirt.

To say Ginny Weasley was simply panicking was also an incredibly understatement.

She had thrown on her uniform in amazing haste and was now sprinting towards the infirmary the very picture of distress. A thousand scenarios played over and over again through her mind. Hermione had been with Angelina the night before, had the perfect bitch finally bared her fangs? Had they been attacked? Had Hermione attempted another bout of skydiving without a parachute?

To say Ginny Weasley was terrified would be the biggest understatement yet.

But as she rushed through the infirmary doors and found Hermione to be perfectly healthy, her worry, panic and obvious terror did not dissipate, on the contrary, it multiplied exponentially and her jaw hung unflatteringly as she witnessed the scene before her.

"What the FUCK?"

Both Hermione and Draco looked up at the intrusion, the contrast between Draco's calm and collected face and Hermione's tear stricken panicked one was more than enough to spur Ginny into action. She gripped her wand in a moment of senseless logic and screeched.

"STUPEFY"


	17. Chapter 17

Everything was happening so quickly and Hermione had not even begun to think about Draco's actions or words, as she was something close to snatched out of the infirmary.

Kidnapped would be a better word. Ginny Weasley had taken her away with the speed of a hurricane after attacking Draco so mercilessly and now stood in front of Hermione in the Gryffindor girls dormitory somewhat resembling a Hungarian Horntail.

Hermione didn't even bother to offer an explanation for the delicate situation Ginny had found her in because to be quite frank she didn't have one, she was just as lost, confused and somewhat angry at herself as the youngest Weasley was.

She had made the first move, she recalled, but he had countered with about a thousand others so whatever anger Ginny was about to dish out was undeserved on her part. She looked out of the window sullenly, allowing herself this extremely selfish moment, feeling like a child about to be grounded by an overprotective guardian.

"How could you be so self destructive?"

Ginny demanded, trying so desperately to keep her calm.

"Ginny I-" She started but stopped when Ginny held her hand in her face signaling her to stop.

" No Hermione, this is ridiculous. How could you be so bloody irresponsible with yourself? With your heart? I understood it all when you finally spilled the beans, you are in love with him yes, and the only thing that didn't stop me from slapping you silly was the fact that you seemed to know how wrong it was!"

She took a deep breath.

"You tried to KILL yourself because of MALFOY, and here I find you snogging him like nothing happened, like no one else matters, I wish you could've seen yourself the first day I saw you after the jump, covered in all those bandages with your leg up in that contraption, I wish you could understand how it felt to have to entertain the idea that your best friend of 6 years could've stopped existing"

She took a step closer to Hermione, trying to discern some sort of suitable explanation to her actions and continued.

"I don't know what he does to you to blind sight you like this, but whoever it is you've fallen in love with isn't Draco Malfoy. You may have destroyed those words he sent to you but I still have them in my heart. 'This ends when I say it does mudblood bitch, your better by birth, Draco Malfoy', don't you see Hermione? He doesn't love you"

Hermione attempted to interject but Ginny shook her head and went on.

"I've toyed with the idea of him coming to his senses and whisking you away into the sunset and all of us living happily ever after but the more I try to imagine it the more stupid the fucking idea gets, but after seeing you today…I have a feeling that you will never let this go, curse or no curse he is going to break you heart, and I'm sorry but…"

She looked down to the floor.

"I can't watch you destroy yourself"

"Ginny let me-"

"Uh uh, Hermione this is something you clearly have to do on your own and I can't trust myself to be as understanding the second time round."

"Ginny what are you saying?"

Ginny was silent for a moment, looked back up at friend and whispered.

"If you let him destroy you, I won't pick up the pieces"

* * *

_In an attempt to sneak back to her the confines of her own bed she had tripped and fallen down the stairs that led out to the Slytherin common room. She stood up but quickly fell back down as she collapsed on her ankle. Looking around the deserted room in panic, she made up her mind to climb the stairs back to Malfoy's room and ask for some assistance. _

_After much work and toil on her part she finally made it to his door and knocked tentatively. He threw the door open his mouth ready to curse whoever had thought to wake him at such an hour but his eyes immediately softened when they fell upon her. _

"_Did you forget something?"_

_He asked curtly. She lifted her leg gingerly trying to indicate the obvious and answered. _

"_I fell"_

_His eyes narrowed at the offending leg and replied. _

"_It is not my responsibility, sort yourself out"_

_Then shut the heavy door in her face._

_

* * *

_

_"Why are you inhabiting the floor?_

Blaise Zabini looked down at the fallen Draco Malfoy with an air of bored amusement. Draco still under Ginny's powerful spell was unable to move and only grunted in response. Blaise seemed to understand his grunt of displeasure, whipped his wand out and muttered.

"Finite Incantatem"

As soon as Draco was freed he sprung to his feet and tried to salvage some sense of decorum in the face of such embarrassment.

"Thank you"

Blaise nodded and turned his attention to the bed that no longer had, the person he had been intent on introducing himself to, in it. He turned back to Draco and asked.

"Where is the girl?"

Draco looked from the bed in question and back to Blaise and scowled as a rush of emotion overcame him. It was just like a Zabini to waltz in and thieve what they had no right to. He turned his nose up at the dark olive skinned boy who stood just as tall as he did and only glared in response.

Blaise did not seem fazed by his change in attitude and simply repeated the question.

"Where is the girl?"

Draco turned his back on the visitor and climbed back into his own bed. Blaise moved to the foot of the bed and asked again.

"Where is the girl?"

Draco had known Blaise for most of his life, they had been acquainted at a rather young age and as far back as he could remember, he had always disliked him. He had attempted to befriend the boy on their first encounter, Blaise's mother had brought him along to a tea party Draco's mother had been hosting and had left him in the care of Narcissa's only son and for whatever reason still unknown to Draco, Blaise had taking an instant dislike to him and the play date ended when the little, proud and contemptuous Italian had pushed the poor and innocent Malfoy heir into one of the many regal ponds that decorated Malfoy Manor.

* * *

"_Master Draco, sir, your mother has instructed this Dobby to bring you a new friend whose mother dines with the most beautiful mistress" _

_An 8 year old scowled at the intrusion and threw a pebble at the offending disturbance, Dobby squeaked in pain as the pebble hit him directly on the forehead but made no move to nurse the now bleeding wound. _

"_Dobby presents a sir Blaise Zabini master"_

_Draco looked up from his combating toy soldier set in avid curiosity, he gazed at the Italian boy who stood behind Dobby and was staring back with an alarming amount of hostility. Draco made no move to even acknowledge the house elves presence, and swiftly kicked him out of the way when he stood to meet his new friend. He let out a howl of laughter as Dobby flew into one of the adjacent ponds. _

_Blaise scowl deepened as he witnessed the event. The boy before him was taking advantage of a weaker animal who could not defend itself in an attempt, he could only assume, to impress him. He looked from the spluttering house elf back to the blonde boy who now had his hand out to greet him and asked._

"_Why do you do as such?"_

_Draco laughed and replied. _

"_Reckon I should've kicked harder?"_

_And before he knew it he had been thrown into the same body of water, he came up for air in much distress and saw only Dobby's large and unnaturally shining eyes looking at him as if he had sprouted wings._

"_WHAT THE HELL YOU DO THAT FOR?"_

_He roared at his assailant. Blaise looked down at him with disgust and replied in Italian. _

"_I do not know why my mother has chosen to associate with your family for there is no honor in your behavior" _

_Blaise then offered his hand to the dormant house elf who gladly accepted it and pulled Dobby out of the pond. He frowned at the youngest Malfoy for moment then turned on his heel and traveled back to the large manor, leaving an infuriated Draco in the water with his abused house elf who glowered at him with hidden glee._

_

* * *

_

Almost 8 years later and about a dozen disastrous encounters since, Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy where reunited once more and now glared at each other in thunderous silence, both acutely aware that this newest encounter would not end at all pleasantly.

"Where is the girl?"

Especially not if Zabini kept inquiring as to the whereabouts of his muggle born.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Thank you for your time.

I look forward to your feedback.


	18. Chapter 18

As the youngest and the only female of the Weasley clan, Ginny Weasley had been taught a sort of single-minded clarity. Single minded clarity that restricted her ability to grasp the various natures of emotional turmoil that frequently visited the world around her. Hermione's situation was indeed a precarious one, she would admit to that, but the solution seemed quite easy and very obvious to the youngest Weasley, all she had to do was stop loving Draco Malfoy.

Ginny only saw black or white and right or wrong and had never bothered to entertain the thousands of possibilities in between each.

And this was where her fault as a friend lay.

Was she supportive? Yes. Was she caring? Extremely so, but even Mother Theresa had her limits, and Ginny Weasley had met said limitations.

Amidst all this trouble, amidst all this drama no one seemed to notice Ginny's own burgeoning adoration of Harry Potter. No one seemed to notice no matter how much time she spent in front of a mirror; he never even blinked in her direction unless he was inquiring about Quidditch or Hermione's mental health.

If only Hermione would just follow directions, if only she'd stop being so bloody selfish. The world didn't revolve around her problems! The world didn't revolve around Draco Malfoy.

She wasn't the only one knee deep in teenage angst.

But no one ever noticed.

And as Ginny lay in her bed that night, her harsh words to Hermione playing over and over again in her mind, she never even thought to draw parallel's between her own turmoil and that of Hermione's. She never saw that if she would only admit her pain, if she would only own up to her desperation, she could help Hermione in a way she never thought possible.

But it was too late now.

She was the youngest out of all them, and felt that it wasn't fair that she had been stuck to take care of someone past her own years. They had always seen her as a child, and so now she would act like one, she didn't want the responsibility of taking care of someone so self-destructive, of someone so bloody stupid and of someone who had abandoned the safe confines of black and white years ago.

She knew it was selfish, she knew it was uncaring, but after seeing Hermione in the arms of that monster, so eager and willing to throw everyone else away she realized that she was allowed to be all those things.

If Hermione didn't care, why the fuck should she?

* * *

Ron Weasley sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and stared at the plate drowned in food in front of him, suddenly unable to eat it. His eyes darted from his youngest sister who sat across from him in frigid silence, to his oldest female friend; he had been extremely worried about, sitting immediately left to him with a shamed grimace staining her otherwise beautiful face then back to his plate feeling extremely uneasy.

Harry glanced at the two females and met Ron's troubled gaze with one of his own and saw the question he had wanted to ask since they started the morning feast.

What was going on?

* * *

Madame Pomfrey had entered the hospital ward that morning to check on her two patients with a plethora of medical care accessories in her hands and dropped almost all of them when she came across the scene before her.

Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy were throttling each other on the floor of her infirmary, and although it was quite a barbaric picture she had never seen anything so positively enthralling. It was as if two opposite forces had finally clashed, Ying and Yang, black and white and good and evil fighting each other so passionately she was reminded of her younger years at Hogwarts where duels of honor were a regular occurrence.

Blaise Zambini was on top of the fallen Malfoy straddling him with his dark hands around the pale boys throat as Malfoy screamed obscenities and attempted to claw his eyes out quite viciously.

It was all so beautiful in a strange sort of way, it didn't help the fact that both boys were ridiculously handsome and she somehow knew that this battle was over a woman which only made the situation even more amorous. She couldn't help but think of those romantic novels Minerva hid in her quarters and could be seen gushing over in between her classes, she had picked one up once and was taken on such a ridiculously romantic fantasy ride she hadn't been the same since. Just thinking of that muggle on the cover with his long flowing locks brought far too much color to the elder woman's cheeks.

"GET OFF ME YOU BLOODY ITALIAN!!!" Draco roared.

"YOU SHOULD'VE GOTTEN THIS ON THE DAY OF YOUR BIRTH!!" Blaise screamed back in his native tongue.

Oh yes, Madame Pomfrey decided, this was living romantic fiction at it's finest, and without a word she moved behind her work desk in an attempt to both hide her presence and watch the scene unravel, if Minerva's books had any grain of truth in them a romantic interest should appear any second now.

"Oh my god!" Angelina Hausra stood at the entrance the picture perfect of shock.

Those long flowing locks were hardly as entertaining Madam Pomfrey concluded.

"Stop!!"

She screeched trying her best to separate the pair. She successfully pulled Blaise off of her fiancé and searched his face for the reasoning behind this altercation, she glanced at the bed Hermione was supposed to be resting in and her heart fell when she found it empty. Blaise stood in front of her with a stony glare directed to Draco, she felt a flutter of butterflies when she realized her hands were still on the expanse of his chest.

She turned back to her old friend who now stood and was returning the glare with one of his own and bit her lip in frustration.

She had always known they didn't like each other but this was just ridiculous.

"Where is Hermione?"

Blaise glanced at her at the mention of his interests name and smirked knowingly at the Malfoy in front of him whose scowl only deepened. Angelina noticed the obvious silent exchange and tried her best to fight of the feeling of rejection at the discovery of the reason behind their passionate battle.

Why wouldn't Blaise have an interest in Hermione? She was strong, she was smart and she was beautiful.

And she wasn't a pureblood fascist, she wasn't in Gryffindor and she wasn't engaged to his life long enemy.

"She left with female Weasley" Draco curtly answered.

"Who is this Weasley?" Blaise turned his attention to the stunning blonde who fought not to blush under the scrutiny of his gaze.

"Ginny Weasley. She's in your year with Hermione, and in the same house as her, very sweet girl, red hair brown eyes, quite a temper but still very sweet"

She had offered too much information, as she always did when she was nervous. She glanced at Draco who looked as though he was trying to murder Blaise telekinetically then back at the Zambini who made her heart beat a little too quickly for her liking.

"I thank you Miss. Hausra, I hope you are well from last night?"

Why did he have to be so perfect? She blushed quite becomingly and looked down shyly.

"Yes, thank you so much for your help"

Draco Malfoy was beyond infuriated. First his mudblood and now his fiancé? Did the bastard Italian have no sense of shame?

"I shall take my leave"

Draco watched in horror as Zabini's hand fell upon Angelina's shoulder in what he could only assume to be a declaration of war instead of the comforting gesture it was intended to be. And instead of shrugging off the estranged member of the Wizarding worlds highest circle of society she welcomed it and placed her own delicate hand over his own and smiled her brilliantly pure blood smile up at the handsome boy.

She was clearly smitten.

Blaise didn't even acknowledge his presence as he exited the room and a frustrated sigh emitted from Madame Pomfrey's desk.

Angelina had completely forgotten where she was at this exchange and dropped her face into her palms attempting to calm her racing heart. After a few moments she felt better and looked up at her fiancé with an innocent smile which he returned with a look of unadulterated shock.

"You fancy a bloody Zabini?!"

She immediately snarled.

"I can't exactly fucking help it Drake! He saved us so bloody gallantly last night it's hard not to fancy something that ridiculously perfect!"

Draco almost spat at this and screamed.

"ZABINI'S ARE NOT PERFECT NOR DO THE PORTRAY ANY BLOODY GALLANT TRAITS!"

Although she was taken aback by his sudden rush of emotion she stood her ground.

"You weren't there last night! You should've seen how he carried Hermione –"

"HE TOUCHED GRANGER?!"

Now she was lost and all anger immediately dissipated.

"Yes?" She offered and jumped back as he let out a roar.

"Draco what is wrong with you!"

He looked so utterly torn, and she could clearly see he was not himself. What on earth did he care about Granger?

"It's this bloody Verus whatever the fuck it's called charm Lina, I can't control what I say, I can't control my emotions"

"What you say? Your emotions? What the hell does that have to do with Hermione? You hate Hermione…don't you?"

"No Lina…I could never hate Hermione"

And that was when it hit her. That night, those tears, that complete dejection over some girl whose name he would never mention to her despite the platonic nature of their relationship, whose name he could never bring himself to say was Hermione Grangers.

"Hermione? You're in love with Hermione?"

The muggle born really did have it all.

* * *

**Authors Note: **Thanks for your time. I look forward to your feedback.

Griffen.


	19. Chapter 19

**Authors Note:** Hey beautiful people, so sorry for the delay, you know what's is like when you're on a roll and you give yourself a little break and simply never go back to it. Again, I apologize profusely; it was terribly irresponsible of me.

Thank you for your time.

* * *

Hermione walked into her Ancient Runes classroom and placed her belongings down on the front desk trying her hardest to ignore the whispering flooding around her, the entire school had already heard about her heroics acts the night before so the gossiping was to be expected.

It had been a very busy week for the Gryffindor princess.

In between her attempted suicide, casting an illegal spell, cursing the living daylights out of 4 well-known Slytherin's and loosing one of her dearest friends she was finding it quite hard to keep herself concentrated on her schoolwork.

She opened her book to the page she knew they would be covering later on.

But she would persevere.

As usual.

She paid no mind to whoever sat down beside her because she had never felt the need to socialize in this class, she coveted the silence, the solitude after the war. As much as she loved her friends she couldn't possibly stand to be with them 24 hours a day.

And so she failed to notice the tall and dark Italian who bypassed his usual seat at the very back of the classroom when his eyes fell on the back of her wild and curled head to make his way next to her.

She failed to notice how the boy who had helped her the previous night gazed at her when their professor began the class, failed to notice the small smile that played on his handsome face as he feigned interest in whatever their professor was preaching while he watched as she dexterously recorded every word on the parchment in front of her.

And failed to notice how Blaise Zabini's inconsequential interest in her grew by the second.

She was just as smart as he had suspected he noted, watching the way she bit her lip when the Professor fumbled around a word's pronunciation, the way she raised her hand so diligently when the class was presented with a question none of them should've known the answer to.

She was really quite beautiful in her own way.

And she was completely ignoring him.

He was by no means a conceited wizard but he was well aware of how visual pleasing his person was, well aware of the effect he had on witches such as Angelina Hausra, so why on earth wasn't this brave little muggle born reacting in any way to his presence beside her?

His eyes flitted around the class room, to the nervous and ill equipped teacher in front of him to the earnest interested eyes of his class mates watching them and then back to unconcerned brunette beside him.

He had run into her friend earlier on in the day, and amidst her curt dismissal at the mention of Hermione's name Ginny did divulge that she had this class with him.

But why had he not noticed her before?

He turned his head and looked back at his regular seat. It seemed eons away from him now.

She was always first to arrive and last to leave he remembered someone mentioning. Although their schedules were in tune with one another, their work ethic certainly wasn't. This would not do, he decided, as he pulled out some parchment and a quill for the first time all term, he liked the idea of them having something in common.

Something, he glanced back up at her, to converse about.

For he planned on doing a lot of…conversing with the strong and able witch.

"Excuse me"

He whispered quietly, making sure he was not interrupting the professor.

She glanced at him for a second and blanched in shock, where the hell had he come from?

He offered a small apologetic smile and asked.

"Have you…ink?"

He knew his sentence structure was completely out of whack but he had once been informed that his lack of adeptness in the English language was another very attractive trait of his.

She scrutinized him for a moment trying her very hardest not to blush at the extremely attractive foreign being next to her and slowly nudged her inkbottle towards him.

"You can share mine"

She whispered back and returned her eyes to her well-documented notes. He frowned at her dismissal and ran a tanned hand through his pitch black locks.

Perhaps this was going to be harder than he had envisioned.

"I am glad you are well"

He whispered once more, intent on having a conversation with the Gryffindor warrior. She glanced back up at him again with question.

"What?"

He dipped his quill into her ink bottle and replied.

"I was, how do you say?....lucky, yes lucky enough to have ran into your friend yester night and was able to assist you and herself"

Her eyes widened with this discovery and a pretty blush encompassed her cheeks.

"I am so sorry, I had no idea, thank you so much …..?"

He smiled at her, his eyes never leaving her own.

"Blaise Zabini"

"I'm sure I didn't get the chance to introduce myself last night, I am Hermione Granger"

She held out her hand to shake his and as he took it and brought to his lips he replied.

"I know"

And with a delicate kiss he released her small hand and went back to his work leaving her to her own thoughts. She stared at him in shock, her face a bright cherry red as she tried to regain her composure, this boy was positively unnatural but as she continued to scrutinize him and marvel at god's work a solemn air encased her entire being as the memories of the morning in the infirmary overcame her and the slow and poisonous lick of guilt surrounded the skin that had touched his lips and she made no further attempt to communicate with her would be hero.

Almost an hour later she had never been so happy for a class to come to an end as she quickly packed her belongings into her bag and prepared to leave.

"It was lovely meeting you Blaise, and again thank you so much" She rushed out but as she turned to flee she felt a strong hand grasp at her arm. She looked back at him in thinly veiled panic.

He bowed his head as if to apologized and said.

"Permit me to escort you Signora, I have been told you are not a favorite on the grounds of this school"

She let out a nervous laughter and swatted his arm off of her.

"Oh no, no, there's no need, I can take care of myself Blaise but thank you for the offer"

He shook his head and continued.

"I do not question your ability, my honor as a gentleman cannot allow you to go on unaccompanied"

She stared at him mouth agape, but didn't protest as he relieved her of her belongings and led her to the exit, their classmates stared at the pair in wonder a single question pulsing in the air, what was going on?

It certainly was a busy week for the Gryffindor princess.

* * *

She was annoyed.

In fact, infuriated.

Draco sat in front of Angelina quite sheepishly. He had just divulged the entire story behind his extreme affection for Hermione Granger and was now nervously waiting for her response. He was well aware of the enormity of the situation, seeing as though the poor girl had attempted to off herself in the name of their love and also adding to the fact that he had always been a right demon in his public regard for her.

And Lina had never been a fan of deception, especially not from the one person in her life she actually put her trust in.

The one person she thought she knew better than anyone else.

Her knight in shining armor.

They had left the infirmary ages ago and were now in the safe and private confines of her bedroom in the Slytherin dorms. He sat at the foot of her four poster bed and she stood opposite him, her hands placed on her hips and her furious eyes were trained on him so militantly.

"Lina I-"

"Shut it!"

She blew out a sigh of exasperation, trying her hardest not to scream in frustration. It just wasn't fair! He loved someone! He was in love! Draco bloody Malfoy was in LOVE. Something she had coveted for as long as she could remember, something she clearly recalled he spent many hours taunting her about and here he was, enjoying the gift he didn't even deserve.

And not only was he in love, but he was in love with Hermione Granger, who was also so ridiculously in love with him, so much so that she tried to kill herself only days before. He had told her everything, finding that the charm made it very hard not to divulge the entire truth, everything from her letter, to his own harsh words, to their very first kiss, to his absolute disgust with himself for having been caught so soundly.

And now he sat in front of her, the picture perfect look of innocence. She knew he could be ruthless, she knew he could be a right ass when he wanted to be but she had absolutely no idea that he was such a bloody devil!

She wasn't quite sure how she felt. There was a tang of betrayal, as well as the salty remains of disappointment, along with the gradual elation at the prospect of such a romance but at that present moment in time the greatest thing she felt was a ridiculous amount of anger.

Anger for Hermione Granger.

That girl was a hero! A beautiful and strong witch who had been absolutely humiliated by the wizarding world's biggest coward! In Angelina's eyes, Hermione Granger deserved so much more than her handsome fiancé; she deserved so much more than what a world like her own could offer her. But Draco took no mind of this, he had used her, he had abused her, and he had shattered the girl's very spirit, the girl's very soul, he had watched her try to kill herself.

He had caused it.

Or had Angelina been the catalyst just as she had suspected all along?

Tears welled up in her eyes as she began to realize the precarious position she had put the muggle born in, as she finally realized what she saw in the Hermione's eyes the very first day she had introduced herself to her.

Complete and utter heart break.

Before she knew it she was pounding at Draco's chest, as all the frustration came out in her blows she screamed obscenities he had had no idea she even knew and cried her very heart out for herself and her friend.

She thought she knew him! She thought she knew his very core, but then to realize how capable of deception he was, to realize how far he could go in his selfish aspirations, to realize how much he resembled her parents, how many traits of the world they lived in he mirrored absolutely gutted her and all she could was scream and cry at this discovery. At this betrayal.

"How could you be so bloody ROTTEN?!"

He made no attempt to protect himself from her blows because he knew he deserved it, and so much more.

"You were given a GIFT! Something pure and so fucking precious! Something our kind go entire lifetimes without and you RUIN it! You ABUSE it! You SULLY it! You're just like them Draco! YOU'RE JUST LIKE THEM"

He didn't argue with her, because the truth was as plain as day, he had done nothing to prove he wasn't his father's son. He had done nothing to prove that anything in their world could ever be different, and in doing so he had taken the little hope Angelina had for her future away.

She thought of her parents, her amazingly unhappy and beautiful mother standing next to her tyrannical and heartless father, and as she looked at their faces she now saw herself and Draco, as well as their children, and their children's children, she now saw their future.

And as her heart finally broke she gazed up at her fiancé who no longer looked like a fellow prisoner, but instead greatly resembled the warden.

She took a step back from her life long friend, turned her head away from him and whispered.

"You're just like them."

He stared at her in shock, he had never seen her so angry, he had never seen her so hurt and he couldn't fathom the idea that he was behind it all.

That he had hurt them this much, the only two women in the world he could possibly love. Two different forms of affection to be sure, but they were equal in their strength and in their passion.

She turned her gaze back to him and his heart stopped at the blatant angered disappointment in her normally bright and kind eyes. He fell to his knees soundlessly and looked up at her with anguish, he had been a fool, he had been a coward but he wasn't them, he was still Draco, he was still the conceited little innocent boy she had known all these years. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her small arms around his shoulders, trying her best to overcome her anger towards him. If there was any chance of salvaging both of their futures she had to help him. She had to save him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Draco"

He breathed a sigh of relief and gripped her body towards him.

"You have to help me Lina. You have to change this….I…I lost myself somewhere a long the way, I began to live a life that was not my own, and then I found her, I found another future, another option…that'd I would never experience, that I could never enjoy and it scared me Lina, it angered me…I…I'm so sorry"

He began to sob in earnest the second time that week.

"Shhhh"

She cradled him in her arms and ran her hands through his hair as she had 100's of times before.

"I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry I hurt her, she deserves more than this, more than me, but I don't want her to have anyone else, I don't want her to love anyone else, the idea that she…that she could love another…I wouldn't want to live Lina, and how am I…how am I supposed to go on? How am I supposed to continue this lie? This life?"

She held his face in her hands and gazed at him, all anger gone from her person as he continued on.

"I don't know who I am Lina, but I know I love her, I could forget my own name and still know I love her, but she doesn't…but I don't…."

She suddenly wished she was Hermione Granger, so she could understand but a fraction of this passion she saw displayed so nakedly in Draco's person, this forbidden love, this undying devotion, this fucked up little fairy tale he had gotten himself entangled with.

She saw no end in sight to this agony, to this misery and he began to resemble her fellow inmate once more. She didn't know what to say to make him feel better, she didn't know what to say to fix it all, she didn't know what to do to help anyone in this situation.

So here they were, one caged little butterfly about to lose her beauty paired with dragon with his wings clipped.

"How much do you love her Draco?"

She knew he could not lie, and as she watched the inner battle splayed so beautifully on his face she knew the charm was fighting for control.

"More than my own life"

He whispered. She touched her forehead to his own and sighed.

"Do you want a future with her Draco?"

She asked although she already knew the answer. It was clear as day and night.

"Yes"

She pulled her head back and brought his gaze back up to her own, as the finality of it all crashed around them. She didn't know how long this curse would last, or how long he'd be willing to own up to his feelings, or how far he'd go to secure a happy future but she wanted the best for him, wanted the best for them, and somehow she knew Hermione would be more than enough.

"Then have one"

* * *

Albus Dumbledore reclined quite lazily in his office, idly throwing a licorice snap here and there at his pet phoenix to entertain himself as he mused over the strength of the curse that had been placed on Draco Malfoy.

Madame Pomfrey had just taken her leave of the headmaster after giving him on a report on the disastrous reaction the youngest Malfoy had had to the curse. It had caused him a great deal of pain, something this very little documented curse was not known to do. There was no way of measuring how long the curse would last, but by Poppy's report this particular breed of it seemed to be laced with ancient magic which only meant one thing.

The young boy would be tethered to the charm indefinitely.

And at this point in time, as he waited for the boys father to come reign his terror down on the headmaster's office, he wasn't so sure that this was going to be at all beneficial to the boys future.

He heard the revolving staircase creak unattractively signaling the arrival of a certain blonde and positively aggravating guest.

Dumbledore sighed in annoyance at the prospect of this visit and idly entertained the idea of hurling his adjacent bowl of licorice snaps at Lucius Malfoy in an attempt of escaping this dreaded communication.

Well at least he was comforted with the knowledge that whoever took over his position after his death wouldn't have to deal with a mirror of Draco's father if the curse really did last that long.

Comforted with the knowledge that perhaps things would finally change.

"You incompetent old buffoon!!" Lucius immediately snarled as if to make his presence known.

If only he could have been so lucky.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank you for your time.


	20. Chapter 20

He had been following her the entire day, and half way in between her outright bewilderment and stark sense of betrayal Hermione found herself beginning to enjoy the tall and talkative Italian's presence. Although he had a bit of trouble adequately expressing his opinions in her language she found that he had many and relayed them with a large amount of animation. If she had been anyone but Hermione Granger and perhaps if she wasn't completely and utterly besotted with Draco Malfoy she would then concede that she was, in fact, greatly enjoying his presence.

He had escorted her about the whole day, diligently carrying her books and only spoke when she poised a question as if he knew how uncomfortable she was, but as the day wore on and she realized he wasn't going anywhere she began to open up, went as far as joked with the young boy who in turn, in response to her attitude change, began to converse more congenially.

The entire school was abuzz with the news. No one really had any sort of inclination as to why Hermione Granger had taken that jump, and it had been the subject speculation for many days now, although no one was ballsy enough to come right out and ask her, it had been assumed that she had gone quite mad because of the stress of school and perhaps trauma after the war, but even that idea was far fetched so as soon as Hermione Granger brought herself back into the public eye all attention was trained on her. And now to see her so easily befriend another wild topic of interest in the girls dormitories of Hogwarts only added more to the mystery that was this young Gryffindor.

But Hermione remained ignorant of all this extra attention.

And so Hermione did not notice how almost everyone in the great hall turned towards her as she entered with the lone Slytherin for dinner, she did not notice the gasps and whispers that erupted quite suddenly when she sat at the far corner of the Gryffindor table with her companion, glad for the company because she knew Harry and Ron had Quiddtich practice that evening. Nor did she perceive the blatant shock painted on almost all of her housemates faces as they regarded her with horror.

"She must 'ave lost it when she jumped" Dean whispered to Seamus, trying not to gag at Blaise's shameless attentiveness. He was a Slytherin for Merlin's sake!

"She had to have lost it long before she jumped mate otherwise she wouldn't have bloody jumped, think he had anything to do with it?" Seamus murmured back, eyes never leaving the couple.

Dean shook his head with resignation.

"I 'eard him asking Ginny as to 'er where about this morning, it didn't sound like 'e knew 'er. "

"What'd do you reckon he wanted with her?" Seamus returned his gaze to his friends face in question, the two of them had taken it upon themselves to watch Hermione when Harry and Ron's weren't there, they had no idea what exactly was wrong with her but she was their housemate all the same, added on to the fact that the both of them had been nursing a small crush on the girl ever since the Yule Ball.

"What do they always want with girls like 'er?" Dean replied, their eyes locked in understanding as their countenances darkened. They returned their gazes to the couple before them and Seamus added rather darkly.

"Well this one's not gonna get it"

Dean only nodded as the clogs in his mind began to churn.

And Hermione remained as oblivious as ever.

* * *

"Viktor Krum? You are in correspondence with Viktor Krum?"

She laughed at the look of disgust on his face, and took a sip of her tea.

"Yes Blaise. Ever since the tournament in 4th year, he took me to the Yule Ball"

"Perhaps this is why you are so un-favored amongst the females of this school" He teased, enjoying the way her blood rushed into her cheeks rather prettily when she was flustered. He knew they were being watched, and even though he had spent most of the term trying to stay away from such celebrity he didn't particularly care, to put it simply he was absolutely smitten with Hermione Granger. Now if only she could return the favor.

She scowled in return and retorted.

"Don't be silly, they have about a 1000 other reasons to hate me"

"All of them ridiculous and unfounded" He replied in Italian. She blinked up at him with annoyance and he smiled at her frustration.

"My apologies Signora, I forget the English at times"

She rolled her eyes at his poor little foreigner act and continued to eat her meal.

"Whatever Zabini"

He made no attempt to argue with her curt dismissal and instead took the time of silence to survey her and mull over his thoughts. There had been much progress that day, and he had greatly enjoyed her company. But there was still something about her he couldn't put his finger on, there was something so terribly amiss with the object of his affection and it had him running in circles trying to find the reason, trying to find an answer. His eyes flitted over to his house table in hopes of finding a certain blonde and green eyed female who could perhaps help answer his questions since that other red head had been a complete bitch earlier on that morning.

He frowned when he did not find her, but soon realized that he did not see the bastard Malfoy either. He knew that if he employed the help of Angelina Hausra he'd have to be in Draco Malfoy's presence more than he liked, but as he glanced back at the tanned muggle born in front of him he knew it was worth it.

He knew she was worth it.

"Hermione"

He took great care to say her name properly and let the syllables roll of his tongue in an almost sensual nature. She shuddered as the sound reached her ears and immediately reverted back to the bewildered attitude she had retained that morning. She tried to steady her breathing as panic began to clutch at the seams of her mind and refused to acknowledge that he had called her. She shouldn't be feeling this, she shouldn't be enjoying this.

"Hermione"

He repeated and this time reached across the table to place some fallen locks of her hair behind her small ear, she closed her eyes as his fingers brushed against her temple, her ear and then her neck then glanced up at him trying her hardest not to fall into the pool of memories that single action had flooded her with.

* * *

"Hermione?"

"_Hermione…"_

_She had been asleep, had fallen asleep in his arms after a night of something she still wasn't at all sure of, it almost felt like love making, but Draco Malfoy did not love her so that was an obvious impossibility. _

"_Hermione…"_

_So why was he calling her? Why was he whispering in her ear? His hot breath on the nape of her neck as he whispered in between delicate kisses._

_Was she dreaming?_

"_Hermione…"_

_It sounded like a mantra, as he brought his hands up to her neck and traced only god knew what into her soft skin. She kept her eyes closed all the while, knowing in her heart that if she made it known that his ministrations were now public he was desist immediately, it was a wonder he had even let her spend the night. _

_And so she feigned slumber and enjoyed the feel of his fingers on her neck, his kisses on her collarbone and the sound of her name from his mouth. _

"_Hermione…my Hermione" _

_Her heart all but stopped, and she was sure it's furious beating would give her away._

"_My beautiful little mudblood" _

_He deftly pushed her hair from her face and tucked her unruly curls behind her dainty ears. Then kissed the tip of her nose and traced the lines and contours of her cheek bones with his thumb. It felt so right, so perfect and a strange warmth filled her being with the idea of waking up to these actions every morning, the idea of opening her eyes to his gray ones and seeing a love that matched her own._

_Seeing forever. _

_She had to have been dreaming._

* * *

Her face was wet, and when she opened her eyes she found she was no longer in the great hall but outside, beside the black lake, the eternal witness to this entire affair. But how did she get here?

She was sitting down, a shadow loomed over her and she looked up to see her companion. Blaise was looking down at her with something in his eyes she had seen before, something she had seen before in Draco's. She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts of him and looked back up at Zabini with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry. That happens sometimes, I zone out and everything just escalates, it's really quite embarrassing hopefully it'll fade as soon as I get over…did you bring me here?"

He shook his head.

"I follow you"

"Oh. Again I'm sorry."

He shook his head again and bent his knees to crouch down beside her, eyes never leaving her face.

"You have no thing to apologize for Signora"

She glanced at him, as every misdeed she had ever committed threatened to explode from her very person. What would he think of her if he knew? What would he say?

What would they all say?

Before she knew it the tears had come again and she swiftly found herself in the arms of her new friend. He brought her to her feet and tucked her head underneath his chin as he murmured little whispers of Italian in an attempt to soothe her.

"Why can't I stop crying?! Look at me! You're a complete stranger and here I am blubbering onto your nice and clean uniform"

She started rambling in between the sobs and although he did not understand a word of what she had said he had an idea of her sheer embarrassment.

"I just don't understand this. All right so I'm heart broken, everyone gets his or her heart broken sometimes…right? Right?"

She pulled back and look up at him so expectantly he could only nod in response still not sure of the topic of conversation.

"Right, everyone gets heart broken so why on earth is this all so dramatic? If I think about this all logically this shouldn't have happened, and now that I've ended it I can pretend like it never did, so why isn't it easier? Why isn't it simpler? It's over right? It's over! And it hadn't even begun? So why am I here? Why do I care?"

She looked up at him again, and this time he suspected he had to do a bit more than nod this time.

"Because….humans are not…logical signora?"

She blinked at him for a few seconds then burst out in genuine laughter.

Had she gone mad?

"Oh Blaise I'm so sorry"

She continued to chuckle as she wiped her tears and he continued to regard her with confusion. Why were the British so hard to read?

"Here I am pouring my heart out to someone who can't even speak English properly. You didn't catch a word I said did you?"

He shook his head with a sad smile, unhappy that he was completely useless in his attempts to sooth her and that was when she smiled at him with such earnest and doleful honey brown eyes his breath caught in his throat.

"Thank you again Blaise. You always seem to be there to save me when I need it the most"

Without a moments thought he took a low and theatrical bow forcing another bout of laughter from Hermione. As he stood she patted his face with a cheerful smile and wiped her own of the rest of her tears. He caught the hand that had been on his face and brought it to his lips.

"I will always be at your service Hermione"

She shook her head at the surreal-ness of it all but made no move to recover her hand.

"A knight in shining armor"

Then he was gone from her sight, and was replaced with a rather stressed looking Angelina who was now screaming obscenities at a wild Draco Malfoy who was now pummeling her newest friend.

"GET OFF OF HIM DRACO! WE TALKED ABOUT THIS! YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING!"

Angelina screeched. This was not the plan! He was supposed to be going with the plan! This curse was just ruining everything! How was he supposed to prove to Hermione that he wasn't a tyrannical bastard if he kept on going around beating the living daylights out of anyone who said her name?

"What on earth…"

Angelina froze as she recognized the voice of the female beside her.

"SHIT!"

Hermione was at this point utterly and completely flummoxed, she had been sure Angelina Hausra didn't even know what that word meant much more how to use it. Her mind was finding it immensely difficult to fathom the situation at hand. She just stood there, the epitome of the word confusion and surveyed the scene. Angelina stared at her warily, looking as if the entire world was on her shoulders, how the hell was she supposed to fix this?

The world seemed to catch up to Hermione all too quickly as she finally grasped exactly what was going on.

"OH MY GOD! GET OFF OF HIM!"

Hermione, without thinking, ran over to the pair and Angelina soon followed. With combined efforts they managed to separate the two boys who were now in complete disarray and were staring at each other with an amount of loathing second to none.

"Draco what is WRONG with you?" Angelina bit out, trying her very best not to overheat in the presence of Blaise Zabini. Hermione was tending to the Italian, worriedly checking to see if he was seriously hurt and trying her very best not to outright faint in the presence of Draco Malfoy.

"He was touching her Lina! He was touching Hermione!"

Both females froze at these words and the amount of jealousy they were doused in, one seemed to be thinking of the right thing to say to follow that statement and the other seemed to have forgotten how to breath. Hermione's eyes locked on to Blaise's own and that was when he understood.

So this was what was wrong with Ms. Granger. He pushed her behind his back in an attempt to both shield her from Draco's view and protect her from having to communicate with the object of her heart break and Draco snarled in response ready to pounce once more on the offending Italian.

Angelina was still at a loss for words and didn't see any sort of quick fix to the situation at hand; it was just her rotten luck it would seem.

"That doesn't warrant any sort of violence Draco" she whispered quietly, noticing the protective stance Blaise had taken and the way he clutched to Hermione his back. It stung to be sure, but it was inconsequential, she could only mend one broken heart at a time and she had no room for her own now. She had to focus on Draco.

She had to focus on anything that wasn't her own ridiculously miserable existence.

"You owe him an apology"

Draco spat at his feet and Angelina only rolled her eyes. Granger remained silent in the behind the confines of her makeshift barricade.

"What is going on?" She whispered frantically to herself, the curse should be working, so why was Draco acting like this? Acting like he cared…in public? Acting jealous? Acting human for goodness sake? And all in front of his fiancé? This wasn't Draco Malfoy. She didn't know this Draco Malfoy. This could not be Draco Malfoy!

She was becoming downright hysterical now, and clutched her chest as she felt the wave of a panic attack overcome her. Blaise only clutched tighter pulling her closer to his body and she found her nose buried in the crook of his back and inhaled the exotic aroma of his cologne.

"Like hell I do! I owe this Zabini nothing!"

He seethed, ready to reign down Satan's fire in this battle. Angelina only clutched onto his arms more tightly making sure her well manicured finger nails were digging into his tender flesh.

"I am not going to let you fuck this up Draco Malfoy, Hermione is here, Hermione can hear you and I'm pretty sure you're terrifying her. " She whispered low enough for only him to hear, his features softened considerably at the mention of Hermione's name and he all of sudden looked quite desolate. Blaise watched this exchange of words with avid curiosity; of all the years he had known Draco Malfoy he had never seen such an array of emotion on the teenagers face.

Draco looked down at Angelina and sadly nodded in agreement and glanced back at Blaise but seemed to look right through him.

"I'm sorry if I scared you Hermione I only-" Angelina clamped her hand over his mouth before he said anything else to derail her plan and turned to Blaise with an apologetic smile.

"I am sooooo sorry Blaise. Honestly. Please let me make it up to you, you too Hermione. I'm sorry if I scared you, I've just been really stressed lately and uh we'll be on our way now"

She all but sped off with the youngest Malfoy in tow leaving a baffled Zabini and Hermione Granger behind.

He watched them disappear into the castle then turned to his new friend with a thousand questions at the tip of his tounge, but she just stood there, seemed completely oblivious to his presence and the very picture of shock.

"Hermione?"

She snapped her head towards him and opened her mouth in wonder.

"Are you…well?"

Everything was just so strange in this county, everyone seemed to be going insane around him, perhaps coming back had not been such a good idea after all.

"I'm sorry Hermione"

She murmured.

"What?"

Now this was just getting ridiculous he concluded.

"He said…I'm sorry Hermione. He apologized. Draco. Malfoy. Apologized."

"Yes he did, signora, he knew he was in the wrong, he knew his behavior was shameful"

She clutched his forearms in hazed excitement.

"No Blaise! I mean yes of course he was wrong but he apologized to me. ME. A mudblood!"

He sneered at the word.

"Do not call your person that"

But she didn't hear him. She didn't hear anything past that point as the final answer came crashing into her. It was the curse, it had to have been the curse, it's purpose was to show true hearts intent, and Draco Malfoy had a heart! Everyone had a heart! And this was it's intent. Her. He had attacked Blaise Zabini because he had been touching her, he had apologized when he realized he had scared her, he had…fought for her.

The pressure began to build in her head, as everything that had occurred in the last 20 minutes snowballed into Hermione Granger's psyche, the world around her started to spin as she realized how terribly wrong she had been, as she realized just how much further she had dug herself.

Blaise caught her as her knees buckled and she steadied herself in his arms and as the scent of the cologne overcame her person was more, a sick sense of logic infused itself into her thoughts.

She was wrong. She had to have been wrong. But what if she wasn't? What if there was some small chance that he did love her? That this spell would prove it all? This spell would bring it all out into the open? This spell would force their love into the real world. This spell would force them into the real world.

Then what would she do?

Wasn't this was she had wanted for months before this? Isn't this what she had dreamt about? So why on earth did the idea of it feel so terribly wrong? Why did the idea of finally loving and being loved in return terrify her so much?

What would she do?

What could she do?

If all her dreams were to come true? If they had a future together? If every forbidden thought she had entertained as impossibility suddenly became a reality?She hadn't thought this through, she had been so sure of the outcome, so sure of the truth she had never thought this could be. She never thought of another option.

What had she done?

What would she do?

What could she do?

"Hermione?"

He was still holding her in his arms, so protective, so trustworthy, so unlike Draco Malfoy in every single way and for a moment she wondered what it would've been like if she loved him instead, if she could love him instead…

She tilted her lips up towards him slowly and unconsciously. Breathing in his distinct and exotic aroma and closing her eyes as the she thought about the possibilities, thought about how easy it would be to wash her hands of Draco Malfoy, how easy it would be to lie to herself.

How easy it would be to do absolutely nothing.

"Blaise…"

Their eyes met, and in a single second of understanding their lips met as well and for a moment Hermione had forgotten everything lost in the confines of this saviors arms. In the warmth of his kiss and in the cold of the dusk surrounding them she had forgotten. But as the kiss deepened she was reminded of Draco, reminded of his kisses and reminded why she was in this boy's arms to begin with.

But she allowed herself this selfish moment, allowed herself to feel the rush of something right, but never perfect, something adequate but never enough. She allowed herself to be loved in this kiss, she allowed herself to be coveted and realized how foreign it would be, that is to say if she were right, if Draco kissed her this way. Realized how unearthly it would feel, and how ridiculously perfect.

And it scared her, it absolutely terrified her, so she continued to kiss Blaise with added fervor and passion not at all ready to grasp any part of her dreams in regards to Draco Malfoy.

She was scared of the future, she was scared of tomorrow, she was scared of his love. She had never thought it possible.

She had never thought it right.

And so she would do nothing.

Because no matter how much she loved him, not matter how much she adored him, no matter how much she wished they could be together.

It wasn't right.

"Blaise…"

She whispered against his ear as they parted for air and his arms snaked around her small waist.

"I know you love him Hermione"

He whispered in Italian and buried his face in the crook of neck, not quite sure where this rush of emotion was coming from, he barely knew this girl but at that very moment in time he would do anything in the entire universe for her.

"But I think I love you more"

* * *

"Draco you have to control yourself!"

They were back in the confines of Angelina's room now, and after that absolute disaster she wasn't sure if she ever wanted to leave it again.

"You saw him Lina! Don't pretend you didn't! He's practically in love with her!"

Draco sat on the bed with a fowl scowl on his face.

"AND WHY WOULDN'T HE BE?"

She screeched back, she had never been so frustrated in her entire life.

"He can't have her! I WON'T LET HIM HAVE HER!"

He howled.

She picked up the vase her mother had sent her for Christmas her 4th year and hurled it at his head, it whizzed past and shattered against the stone wall behind him.

"It is not his fault YOU fucked up Draco, it is not his fault YOU kept on fucking up when you had her! When she loved you! And now I'm trying to help and you just KEEP fucking it up! I CAN'T WORK LIKE THIS!"

Another present, this one a jewelry box given to her in her 5th, was projected at the younger Slytherin who jumped out of the way just in time.

"It's not my fault Lina! It's this curse!"

She screamed at this statement and flung another object.

"Well by the looks of it –"

And another one.

"this "curse" is here to stay –"

And another one.

"SO YOU BETTER LEARN TO CONTROL YOURSELF"

Having found she had run out of weapons she leaped onto her childhood friend and simply started swatting.

"Lina! Lina please –"

"Trouble in paradise I see…"

They both froze at the sound of this voice. Angelina gulped as trepidation over came her and pulled herself off her fallen fiancé who in turn made no move to get off the floor, in fact he made no movement at all.

Angelina eyes darted from Draco to the intruder with growing foreboding; the newcomer stood at the threshold of her bedroom surveying the mess she had created with a bemused and incredibly condescending air.

"Good evening Uncle Lucius..."

* * *

**Authors Note – **It's funny isn't it? She finally gets what she wants and runs from it…yeah, lol true story.

Thank you for your time.


	21. Chapter 21

It had been an absolute disaster. An absolute, huge and tyrannical disaster and the trouble seemed to have no available end.

What on earth was she supposed to do?

Angelina Hausra ran her small hands through her tousled blonde hair on the verge of tears. She had never been so stressed in her entire life. Her freedom was so close, she could practically taste it but trouble after trouble kept on colliding with her on the path to redemption, on her trek to salvation.

Lucius had to know by now. He had to know Draco's secret. Or maybe…just maybe the curse would have enough sense to want to protect Hermione. Lina glanced at the clock by her bedside, trying her very best not to give up all hope. It had been hours since the confrontation and hours since she'd heard anything from her childhood friend.

What on earth was she supposed to do?

Her future depended on Draco's and now on Draco's heart. With the discovery of his affections for her young mudblood friend she began to taste the true texture of a future aside from the one that had been placed before her. And as selfish as her intent was at heart she honestly wanted the best for her friend, never mind that his best would intertwine with her best. It would all work out in the end.

If the world didn't keep throwing these damn bombs at her that is.

She sat in her bed, with her head in her hands combating every single negative thought that continued to assail her person.

What if Lucius found out? What would he do?

Voldemort or not he was still a force to be reckoned with. The Death Eaters that had been left behind and tossed aside after the war were still great in number and had enough hatred for the likes of Hermione Granger to fuel a thousand suns.

But better yet…what on earth would he do to Draco?

"Oh God…"

How did this all happen? How did everything become so askew?

What on earth was she supposed to do?

* * *

"Lucius I see no reason for the child to not continue his schooling, the charm has not hindered his ability to learn or function like a normal school boy"

Draco Malfoy sat very quietly in the corner of the head masters office as he watched his father and his head master spar with words over his future at Hogwarts. He had been very careful not to say too much too soon as soon as his father had made his presence known. Curse or not he knew when to keep his mouth closed in the presence of the head of his family.

And so he remained silent, and simply watched. Judging by Dumbledore's relaxed stance in opposition to his fathers own flustered one he could already tell who was going to win this confrontation and as his eyes met that of the old mans his chest tightened at the slight twinkle in the old bastards eyes.

His own narrowed instantly.

The old fart knew something.

"I want him at the Manor until a cure is found!"

"Then he shall remain there for an eternity Lucius. You and I both know there is no such cure, so it would be in your sons best interest to continue on with his life until such a discovery is made…if ever"

Dumbledore stood now, as if ready to show the eldest Malfoy out and continued.

"The charm will not have any effect on your sons offspring Lucius, he simply will not be able to lie, and if this boy is truly your son you should have no trouble with this affliction, or as some would say…blessing"

Draco rolled his eyes at this; did the old coot always have to be so damn cryptic?

"BLESSING? He was cursed in broad daylight you old fool! How on earth could this be deemed a blessing?"

Dumbledore simply blinked and replied.

"He's not dead is he?"

* * *

Their relationship had always been rather a precarious one. Comparable to a long winding dark road filled with cavernous potholes and now as they stood opposite each other at the far south gates of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry Draco became all too aware of the particular pothole he now found himself in.

"You are well then? No physical pains?"

He stood eye to eye with his father now, the last bout of puberty had hit him the previous summer but it was still a strange sensation to not be looked down upon by the man he had spent so many years idolizing…so many years before the second war that is.

"None"

He simply replied. Lucius nodded and continued.

"Do you have any idea who the culprit might be?"

"None" he repeated.

Lucius nodded once more and regarded his only child for what seemed like forever His eyes were completely unreadable, as stone cold and unforgiving as ever but there was something else in them today. Something that shook Draco to his very core.

He seemed to want to add something but thought better of it and without another glance his disappeared beyond the wards of the school.

Draco collapsed on spot. His breathing ragged and strained. There had been so much he wanted to convey, so much this blasted curse had almost forced out of him in his fathers presence. But the idea of protecting Hermione, the idea of saving her had saved them both.

But for how long would he be able to keep this up? For how long would he be able to remain silent? Sudden visions of Christmas dinner, and all the family outings in between assaulted him and he realized how futile his plans really were.

He needed to lie now. Not because of his own selfish intent but because his damn life depended on it!

He slowly got up and turned back towards the castle.

His father had asked a question no one had thought to ask until now, a question with such an obvious answer it almost robbed him of his reason. He had already canceled out a family enemy because of the nature of the curse, and no one in the school really had the mental capacity or magical knowledge to perform such a curse so perfectly…no one aside from the person who was in every thought, who was at the center of every dream and laced his very heart with her image.

The only person with the motive, the ability and the possible knowledge of his where a bouts that day was Hermione Granger.

It was like a sucker punch to the gut. It was all so obvious. All so conniving, all so fucking Slytherin. But as the memories of his words to her after her jump came back to him he could see why she would go to such lengths. And that morning he had woken up in the infirmary with her on top of him, brushing his hair out of his face with such sorrowful and regret filled eyes. In his joy at her presence he had never thought to ask what was wrong? Why she had looked so guilty?

But if she had cast this curse surely she would've known of his true intentions, of his true thoughts of her. How on earth could she not? She wanted the world to see? Isn't that what she asked of him day in and day out during their encounters? She wanted his love…and so she found a way to uncover it.

He suddenly felt very betrayed.

She had cursed him with his back turned and then she had run away. She didn't want the responsibility but she wanted to reap the rewards? Then what on earth was she doing by the lake, their lake with Blaise Zabini?

She had cursed him….so the world would know.

So her world would know and he would be made to look like such a fool on the stage of her little play.

He was angry now. Angry at the thought of being used to such an extent. Angry at the thought of her in another man's arm when she had consciously tried to pry his open for herself. Angry at the entirety of her selfishness. Did she not ever think of the damn consequences?

Did she ever think of anyone but her own fucking self?

He suddenly felt enraged.

He stopped in the middle of the dark corridor. It was well past curfew but he didn't really care, the entire planet had been placed on his strong shoulders and he had no idea where the hell to put it. He leaned against the stone cold wall and closed his eyes for a moment. Trying to clear his thoughts, trying to clear his heart.

How could she go this far?

* * *

"Lina…"

She shot up out of her slumber and sat up in such a flurry, it took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the light but when they did she immediately clutched her sheets to her body in trepidation.

"Uncle Lucius?"

He stood at the foot of her bed, all 6 feet pure blood royalty draped in the finest fabrics and jewels looking down on her with a look she had seen many times before. A look she encountered many times with the many male relatives she had, and many of the male friends her father regularly entertained at the Hausra manor. A look she had always feared, a look that almost had her killed during the second war.

"How long do you think you and Draco will be able to keep this up Lina?"

They way he used Draco's name for her made her shudder involuntarily and her stomach twisted itself in copious amounts of fear. Was she dreaming? She had to be dreaming, this was a nightmare. Little flashes her immediate future started flickering in her mind.

She could see his eyes clearly now, and saw a reflection of herself mirrored over the years, all those years he had spent watching her she had run to the cover of her fiancé…of his son. She had known he had looked on her with more than fatherly love and more often as she grew into her beauty and more importantly her body.

She inched back on the bed, as her eyes welled up with tears. She had to be dreaming.

"Uncle Lucius what are you – "

He held his gloved hand up in the middle of his sentence and began to peel the dragon skin gloves off his thing and pale hands.

"I know Lina. Did you forget that I could always read you Lina? Draco may have learnt to block his thoughts from others but you were never so able…I knew the moment you laid eyes on me today"

Both hands were bereft of his gloves now and he placed both the gloves and his cane on her nightstand.

He sat beside her on the bed and brought a hand up to her golden waves, long fingers intertwining themselves in her silken hair. Her eyes never left his and she suddenly understood his intentions.

He smiled and gripped onto her locks pulling her head down beneath his own.

"You will marry Draco sooner or later. So I will allow him to have his fun during his school years, although the company he chose to entertain is not of the preferred variety but it matters not. I will do nothing to harm her as you so fear my sweet Angelina but in return…"

His ghostly white hair fell about his face and tickled her cheeks as he pulled quite swiftly at the ribbon that had kept it in place.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to fight, she wanted to pretend as if she wasn't anything but a Hausra, as if her own father hadn't come to her room in the middle of the night after her magic had been drained, as if this wasn't a normal experience in the life of a pureblood princess, she wanted to pretend that she had the power to fight the worlds expectations, that she could protect a friend by any other means. She wanted to pretend that she was worth more than this.

That she could be more than this.

But if did…she would only be lying. And as her godfathers lips touched her own, and his hands almost ripped her hair out of her skull she understood the severity of the sacrifice she was about to make and in turn said goodbye to her future.

But if she couldn't live…Draco certainly would.

And so she remained silent as he disrobed himself.

"My sweet, innocent and useless little pureblood"

He pulled her head towards his hardened member.

"Be a good girl and protect that little mudblood bitch"

* * *

It was nearly dawn when Blaise returned to his chambers. He had spent most of the night conversing with Hermione, and the other part wandering around ridiculously lost after he had seen her off at the Gryffindor portrait entrance. He stumbled into the Slytherin common room completely knackered to say the least and lethargically moved down the hallway of private chambers to his own.

But something was amiss he noticed as he entered the hallway. The air was heavier somehow. He glanced at each door looking for an answer and noticed how the last one on the right hand side of the corridor had been left open.

Of all the things he knew about the Slytherin empire this kind of blind trust had never been any of them.

He moved to door quite swiftly. Pulling out his wand in preparation for only god knew what. He peered at the nameplate to the left of the door that read 'Angelina Hausra' in delicate cursive.

Had she been attacked once more?

He pushed the door open and held his wand ready for some sort of an assault but had the wind knocked right out of him at the image he was presented with.

Angelina Hausra lay in the middle of her sullied sheets. Numerous fresh bruises covered her otherwise clear skin and deep lacerations decorated her bare thighs. They were healing though, but just barely, whoever had caused this had cast a few slow healing charms and he was sure these wounds would be gone in a matter of hours.

He couldn't move a muscle as his eyes fell on her naked and battered body, her tear stained cheeks seemed to glow in the poor sunlight that flickered through the room. She was awake.

And she was crying.

Her full chest heaved up and down as her body shook through the silent sobs. But she made no move to cover herself and remained as still as stone.

He was at her side in an instant, fighting down the wave of nausea that overcame him when he saw the hand marks on her neck and the dried blood between her thighs. Her face was the only part of her body that had been left unscathed.

Her beautiful face.

Without a word he took of his cloak and covered her naked body. She flinched at his touch and opened her eyes in horror.

"No! No! No! No! No! No!"

She was frantic now and darted to the other side of the room her sobs now loud and clear for the entire world to hear.

Blaise stood in shock; he had caught a glimpse of her back, of all those bruises and choked on air.

Did these people have no shame? No honor? No sense of decency?

"Angelina…"

He took a step towards her and she buckled in the corner of the room.

"NO!"

Her voice was hoarse, and contrasted so greatly from the melodic tones he was used to he shirked back in response. He gathered himself once more and stretched out an arm toward her.

"Let me help you Angelina"

The blast that threw him back was so great that it knocked him out cold when he collided with the wall behind him. The air around her crackled with such intense magic it distorted her entire appearance. She stared at her hands in wonder and fear and wordlessly summoned her wand towards her, she cried out in fear when the item came whizzing at her and jumped back before it collided with her skull.

"Lumos"

She whispered, it was the simplest spell she knew and as the small light flickered at the end of her wand she all but shut down. The sheer beauty of the small an insignificant light sent her on an extreme emotional roller coaster, she didn't know her left from right anymore, her bad from good, her life from death. But she knew she had the key to that cage she had been stuck in for so long and the idea was positively enthralling.

"LUMOS!"

She screeched and the light blinded the room entirely and in that instant she had completely forgotten about the night before, about the sacrifice she hade made for a girl she barely knew, for a would be lover that would hate her when he found out and so she was up in a flash, she transfigured her torn and tattered nightgown into a new robe and glamoured all of her very quickly healing wounds. Her eyes darted to the injured Italian in fear and she fled without another moments thought.

* * *

His eyes flickered open to the curious face of a fellow housemate.

"Zabini"

Theodore Nott nodded at his mental arrival and motioned to the room around them.

"Care to tell me what happened here?"

Blaise stood up and gazed at the room that was completely bereft of one Angelina Hausra. His gaze hardened and he sneered at his housemates.

"Where is Angelina?"

Theodore chuckled in response.

"Oh so it's like that is it? Well fuck if I know mate, I walked by here and saw you knocked out cold amongst that shit hole of a bed I suppose you were taking a spin round last night"

He snarled in response.

"I did not spin Angelina's bed!"

Nott raised his hands and back away towards the door.

"Third party here. I really could care less whose bed you spin Zabini, no need to go all Mussolini on me"

The muggle Italian remark did nothing to abate Blaise's anger and he returned his gaze to his surroundings. He remembered everything quite clearly. The nature of her body, her wounds, her frantic eyes and her attack.

Her attack with magic.

Magic she wasn't supposed to have.

He had to find her. He had to get to the bottom of this. She had been raped he was sure, and judging by the nature of her departure he was also sure she would tell no one. Judging by the quiet din of the Slytherin common room she had told no one about her magic being restored to her either.

He had no idea where to go, he knew next to nothing about Angelina Hausra, but after last night he felt a fierce need to protect her, to save her. She had looked so out of place, she had looked so lost and so destitute and he couldn't possibly understand why on earth she felt this way. She was the toast of society, the most beautiful girl in the school he had been told, she had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth she continuously spent time with the bastard Draco Malfoy.

She should be happy.

So what happened last night?

The idea of uncovering a sinister under working of her world drove curiosity, she was so bright and so lively, so happy and so pure but last night…she had been dead. She could've been dead. It was such a contrast to everything he knew to be true.

He had to find her.

And her magic. Her magic had returned, in her hysteria and fright accompanying his presence she had sort to protect herself and her raw and untamed magic lashed out at his body.

She could've killed him.

He had to find her.

His legs took him to unknown corners of the castle, at this point he didn't care if he missed all his classes, he knew Hermione would fare quite well without him and he knew she would understand.

His Hermione.

As his feet took him to another woman's heart he never thought to question who inhabited his own.

"My Hermione"

And that was when he saw a flash of blonde, heading up the stairs to a now empty astronomy classroom.

"Angelina!"

His Italian accent carried itself well in the hallway and echoed so much that he knew she had to have heard him. She began running and so he picked up pace.

"GO AWAY!"

She was crying. He passed by curious faces of many students and took great pains to ignore the flurry of whispers. And then he lost sight of her.

He stopped in front of a blank wall; quite sure he had seen a door here before. Quite sure he had seen her blonde locks float into the room that was supposed to be in front of him. He stood and glared at the war for a moment.

What magic was this?

"Lina…"

And that's when the image in front of him changed and a door appeared almost out of thin air, and without question he gripped the handle and threw the door open. The room was softly lit and the elder Slytherin female stood in the middle of it her small and frail arms wrapped around her sobbing body.

"What happened to you?"

* * *

**Authors Note: **This had NO Hermione. But the next chapter is nothing but her, so yeah, I just wanted to work on Angelina more since a lot of my reviewers really seem to like here, it's almost as if she were an original lol. Blaise and Angelina…yeah…um….See my problem is I still don't know about the fate of Draco and Hermione. So it's all up in the air.

But thank you for your time and be sure to review.

Thanks again.


	22. Chapter 22

He felt cold. Shock and betrayal resonated deeply from his core, with an underlying strand of utter confusion. Everything was displayed so clearly before him, and yet it was all still so convoluted.

Draco Malfoy sat at the edge of his bed, his conflicted face palmed within his hands, fingers out stretched teasing the edges of his hairline.

So she had cursed him.

But who was to say that he didn't deserve it, she had begged for his love on many occasions, and he had mocked her, degraded her and spat on anything of the sort countless times. He had hurt her so much, what right didn't she have to afflict him so? But to curse him when his back was turned was a detestable endeavor indeed.

He tried to recall how he got to his bed, but his mind had been so overwrought with thoughts of Hermione and this possible attack on his very soul that the memories just wouldn't filter through. It was midday he noted, the sun shone prettily through the skylight he had transfigured his second year at Hogwarts. The same white light that used to shine on her milky white skin when she lay in bed all day with him, in his strong arms. So small, yet so strong, she loved him for reasons unknown, even though it went against her very nature.

And he had secretly returned all affection, writing a script for his future that betrayed his very soul.

So now what was he to do?

He loved her still, he always would, and with this curse, this blasted curse he would never be able to hide it again? If it could be simple he would find her and whisk her away to an unknown undocumented island and live the rest of his life there with her, with a future aside from the one he was shackled with.

But life was never that easy, he was a Malfoy, there were rules, there were regulations that he had no choice but to adhere to, or the consequence would most certainly be death.

He groaned as the tendrils of a headache began to caress the confines of his cranium. A sudden thought assaulted his senses.

"Where is Lina?"

He got up instantly and walked to her door, dismayed to find it blasted open, panic rose within his core when he came upon the complete mess that was her otherwise spotless abode. But there was no sign of his forced intended.

He ran down to the common room, seeing the excited glances of his dorm mates, anger riled up inside of him.

"WHERE IS ANGELINA?"

He roared. Faces turned sheet white promptly, the scent of fear permeated the air, a small first year came forward and meekly offered.

"When we woke up this morning, her room was in that state and Zambini was knocked out cold on the floor..."

"ZAMBINI? What the fuck was that bloody Italian doing in my fiance's room!"

He didn't mean to dose out his anger on this young and innocent victim, but his emotions were running wild, and old habits were hard to break. He could feel Angelina's disapproving glare in the back of his mind, constricting his own heart even tighter in hopes that she was well.

"No one knows, sir Malfoy sir"

Another one offered, none looked him in the eyes, but he knew the older Slytherin's were watching his actions closely. Measuring the worth of their professed Prince. He felt like he could explode, all the eyes trained on him, eye's born from families like his own, from evil, from pettiness from lies, this evil that probably stood by and watched whatever little light was stolen from his angel. He had never hated his circumstances more, this evil took everything from him, and now it wanted his very own sister?

Without a word he stalked out of the common room and into the dungeon hallway, he had to find Lina, he had to make sure she was alright, as much as he detested Zambini, his instinct told him that the gallant Italian more than likely had nothing to do with the mess that was Lina's room, he was just too fucking good for that, all that bullshit Italian honor, for years Draco swore his arch nemesis had been born in the wrong century, had even looked up numerous spells in an attempt to send him back to the middle ages to where he so obviously belonged. Far away and out of his own blonde locks.

He stopped in the middle of the hall, the sudden realization of just how clueless he was as to the whereabouts of Lina hit him hard in the gut, the panic grew greater and heavier for him to bear. And so he ran to the only person who could and would possibly help him in the situation, the only person who always seem to know the truth.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

* * *

"Lina...are you alright?"

He stood a cautious distance from her, wary of the raw magic that crackled in the air around her, her body shook with her sobs, and her beautiful face spoke of so much anguish and responsibility, he wanted nothing more than just to wrap his arms around her and take whatever evil this was from her heart. No one deserved this much pain.

"My little bird, come and talk to me"

He whispered in Italian, she looked up at him, as if fully realizing the meaning of his presence.

"The world does not love me"

She replied in his native language, but he was not shocked at her knowledge of this, she was wizarding royalty after all, her foreign repertoire probably surpassed his own. She seemed more open to communicate in Italian, and so he continued as he took a few steps closer towards her.

"The world does not love, for it does not have to, we have to love it"

She looked up at him, the light shone off of her wet face, her eyes so wide and earnest, raw pain seeped through every pore.

"I did love, I try to, but everything gets ruined, I have to give so much, always giving, no one hears my screams, my pain, all for others to smile"

Her Italian was well versed, at any other time he would've shown how impressed he was with her words, but for now he had to solve this problem, what had happened to this poor girl?

"What happened to you Lina? Are you hurt in anyway?"

She shook her head with a 'No' at the second inquiry, completely ignoring the first she replied.

"No, he glamoured the bruising all away, look at my skin, fresh and new, as if nothing happened"

His eyebrows perked up at the mention of a "he". The fear and agony laced a story together for him, the needle of insight finished up the touches on this quilt of Angelina's horror. He was beyond disgusted, and in two swift paces she was in his arms. She was stiff at first, but slowly melted into his embrace as he cradled her head in the crook of his neck, strong yet malleable all at the same time. The magic around them increased, as her own hands gripped his backs and her sobs grew even wilder. But he was not afraid, as a magical being she was only expending her energy, releasing the evil as his own grandmother would say.

"It is alright, you are safe now"

She had heard those words so many times before, after one of her father's explosive attacks on her, or her mother's scalding words, in so many instances her childhood Nanny had tried to protect her, only to perish at the hands of the Dark Lord, the now deceased God of their family, she had heard these words so many times but today, for the first time in what seemed like centuries, she actually felt them resonate deep within her soul, she actually felt safe in the cage of his arms, his light exotic cologne overcame her senses, soothing yet exciting all at the same time, in an instant she forgot and just lost herself in his essence, silently thanking Merlin for this gift that was his support and love, even if it were only temporary. She had never had to fight for anything before, especially not the integrity of her life, of her soul, but he inspired her to seek more, to fight back, to be strong in the face of such dragons. His arms warm and welcoming, shutting off the pain, blocking up the faucet of treachery and anguish that ruled her life.

She had to fight. For Draco and for herself.

She wanted to know nothing else but this peace.

"Grazie"

* * *

**Authors Note**: I know. It's been forever. But I'm here again. Back in America, writing away. I hope you enjoyed.


	23. Chapter 23

She was afraid. It was the middle of the day, she stood alone in her room, fiddling with her crazed locks with an absent mind, her hands shook, she clutched the marble brush in her hand even harder, her knuckles turned white at the act.

She was terrified.

She had long ago admitted this, ever since Blaise had left her to her own devices, she had spent hours trying to wrap her head around what had happened. She had resolved to do nothing in the face of all she could have ever hoped for. She had resolved to stand still and be idle as the love of her life ran willingly for her embrace. As he fought for her.

She wanted his love, she needed it, but she was terrified of it all the same.

His admission of feelings towards her meant so much more than just riding off into the sunset on a shining white horse, well in Draco's case she was sure it'd be black, it meant that rules had to be broken , precaution had to be taken to protect herself and whatever family they could build together.

Family?

Her hands dropped the brush entirely, it fell to the cold stone floor with a loud clatter. The sudden thought of children rushed upon her, when had she gone this far? Would their children even be permitted to survive? Would they even be accepted as Malfoy's? They'd be mudbloods too wouldn't they? Cursed with her tainted blood. She could picture their grandfather's sneer now.

And this was what she wanted to spend the rest of her life with? This is what she almost killed herself over? This fear, this trepidation at the thought of what should bring her the world's greatest joy. Her eyes trained themselves on the window, to the Womping Willow outside, she watched it flicker and play with the birds flying swiftly around it's murderous branches. It had saved her, and this she would never forget. She turned to the full length mirror in the corner of the room and brushed her mousy hair out of her face.

"He loves me."

She whispered the words slowly, almost expecting some sort of magical affect, what would this knowledge give to her life? What good could it possibly do? The spell she cast was not supposed to produce this outcome, it was supposed to destroy her, to break her down so she could build again, supposed to make her forget all about him, about his strength, his beauty, his condescending nature, so confident and yet so arrogant. It was supposed to cut her heart out, to create a new start. But it had only destroyed any and all hope of freedom from this warden of love. She felt as though she was in Azkaban waiting for some sign of daylight, for some sign of beauty from the outside world.

Everything confused, nothing abated her fear, there was too much responsibility in this love. Too much work. She should only be concerned about her school, her future, the countless possibilities that lay in the next day of her life, but here she was again, mind wrapped around the only thing that could profess to want to murder her one minute and have her wandering around like a love sick puppy the next.

But why did he love her? She was everything he hated, he had told her this enough, why did he lie to her for so long? Why couldn't have just been simple? Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy and girl fuck their entire school career, boy and girl then part ways when older and the real world comes between their relationship, neither ever having invested enough emotional turmoil in the other to really and truly be hurt by this typical turn of events. That would've been ideal for one such as herself. But no, she had to fall in love, she had to fall in love with Draco Malfoy. She had almost lost her life, she had lost one of her dearest friends, had almost failed her courses, and now, now he wants to come and finally admit all that she had needed to hear all along?

And the idea that she wasn't even worth the truth, the idea that she had to curse him with dark magic to get him to realize just how much he cared about her, stung so badly, tears prickled the corner's of her honey brown eyes, her newly scarred heart burst open with fresh wounds.

"Why did I have to be so stupid?"

Why did she have to fall in love?

* * *

"Can I help you Draco?"

Ever calm, Professor Dumbledore sat behind his desk with a bemused twinkle in his eyes at the flustered youth before him. A twinkle that never failed to rake the fire of Draco's rage.

"I cannot find Angelina! Her room looks as though she has been attacked and other Slytherin's tell me that Blaise Zambini was found passed out in the middle of the mess earlier this morning"

He stood straight, his voice was steady, never betraying the inner turmoil created at this turn of events, once a Malfoy, always a Malfoy. Dumbledore tilted his head with a bored sigh and offered a small and simple.

"I believe she is in the infirmary"

In an instant Draco was gone. The aged man stood up, moving to the spot Draco had stood and looked up at the surrounding portraits of knowledge past. He knew all that went on in his castle, he knew of all transgressions, all evil of any and all nature. He knew what Lucius Malfoy had done to the poor girl the night before, he knew all of this, yet could do nothing about it. For it was not his place, these children had to write their own future, fight their own battles, as a headmaster he could only advise and protect when asked. He detested the boys father, he always had, and the idea that he committed such a heinous act within the confines of his very own establishment created a fire within him he hadn't felt since the demise of Voldemort. But if Angelina did not ask, did not actively seek a change within her circumstances, he could do nothing to prove this evil.

And it frustrated him to no end.

He closed his eyes in consternation, shooting a silent prayer to the gods whose existence he had refuted years ago.

"Let them die happy"

* * *

Blaise had not left her side. He had gently coaxed her into the infirmary, alerting Madam Pomfrey and their house head of what had happened, even though he still had no real inclination as to what exactly had happened to this gentle girl. She sat up in the bed, meekly sipping a cup of tea and nibbling a bit of chocolate the head nurse had provided. She hadn't said a word since her divulgence of simple thanks and he hadn't asked her too, he was just grateful she was letting him help her.

Distant thoughts of Hermione flickered through his mind, but his eyes remained trained on the broken girl before him. Her light had been stolen, he would see it returned.

The doors burst open with a flurry and there stood her fiance, perturbed and anxious as he rushed to her side. His own eyes ran up and down her body, but seeing no bruises or outright evidence of wrong doing her dismissed immediate danger and buried her face in his chest.

"Are you alright?"

Blaise remained silent, watching the exchange with avid curiosity, but maintained his serious air.

"Not at all."

She murmured. Draco looked down at her face, suddenly understanding what flavor of pain had brought her here. His eyes were cold and calculating, but his heart wrenched within his chest. He had failed to protect her...again.

"But I will be alright my Dragon, we will be alright"

She clutched his hand to her chest, willing him to understand the change that had taken place, willing him to envision the battle that was to be fought for their lives, for their future and for their happiness. She dropped his hand into her lap, and picked up the wand that lay forgotten on the bedside table. With a flick of her wrist and a whisper she had the lamp across the hall levitating. He looked from her wand, to her hand, to her face and to the lamp in stark shock.

"Your magic..."

He let out feebly, fumbling for words to adequately express what exactly this turn of events meant to his life.

"Has returned"

She finished for him, a smile wide and beautiful painted on her winsome countenance.

Blaise remained on the sidelines, his annoyance at their method of silent communication grew by the minute, they were speaking plain english, but almost every word had some sort of deeper double entendre and he wished for equal understanding, he had been the one to find her after all, he too wanted to offer his assistance in whatever battle was to be waged. He simply couldn't get the picture of her battered and broken in the corner of her bedroom out of his mind, and would do anything to erase those circumstances from her life. If only she would permit him.

They had embraced once more, tears now fell freely from Angelina's face, if he hadn't spent most of his life hating the other party in this touching scene he would've found this endearing. But Malfoy remained a Malfoy, unworthy of any sort of positive energy he could muster up at the moment. His heart still stung for Hermione, he simply couldn't fathom how she had fallen in love with such a rotten pig. He sneered and turned his head away from the pair, resigning himself to their attention once they were ready to give it, instead busying up his thoughts with messy curls and intelligent conversation, with honey brown eyes and small slender fingers clutching volumes of knowledge she would soon share with him.

But even the peaceful thoughts of her brought him back to images of his self professed enemy. She loved him, and he apparently loved her as well, but now watching the exchange between who Blaise had been told was Draco's fiance and Draco he questioned the sincerity of his feelings, of that anger he had displayed the day before. Draco deserved neither of these women, so how on earth did he attain their hearts so easily?

Draco turned stiffly towards him, as if remembering his part in the entire ordeal, `he choked out an austere 'Thank You', Blaise only sneered in response.

"I did nothing for you"

Draco opened his mouth to lash out, but instead refrained from instigating a battle with his fiance's knight in shining armor. Angelina's fingernails dug into his upper arm as his mouth enveloped into a stiff line. She smiled at the angry Italian, hoping to keep as much about this ordeal as quiet as possible.

"Thank you for bringing me here Blaise, but Draco is here now, I will be alright"

He frowned and crossed him arms, as if declaring war on any future suggestion about his departure she might have.

"This affair is not over and I do not believe you are well, my honor will suffer if I leave you now"

Angelina's heart stopped for a moment, he was so gallant, so brave and so god awfully stubborn, she was sure these words had irrevocably cemented her unrequited love for him. But her life was too convoluted to even think of waging that battle for his own heart. She had too many things to attend to first, Draco and Hermione being at the top of her list, Lucius's Malfoy's untimely demise taking second place.

Her power was back now, as was the reason she had been sorted into Slytherin in the first place, the idea of revenge had never meant so much to her as it did now. She knew Draco would understand once she told him what exactly had happened to her, in fact she was sure she'd have to stop him from committing patricide, to do this properly, they'd have to be able to get away with it. To remain completely clean, a fresh new start in the new world for the both them, they would be the new pioneers of wizardly equality, after they killed off the black hearts that produced them.

But first, she needed Blaise to leave, so all this could be divulged to her childhood savior.

They had a lot to plan.


End file.
